The Cross Country season has begun and there is a lot of hope for a good season.

Even though there is a rebuilding stage on the team due to most of the seniors graduating last year, there is a lot of excitement for what’s to come.

Their top runners are Nick Sinofsky, Oscar DeFrancis, and Nat Markey, who are all sophomores.

The team’s record last year in their division was 4-0, which included wins against Kent, Taft, and Avon. They are coached by Williston alum Christa Talbot-Syfu, who is in her sixth season.

This year should be a big year for young runners, Talbot-Syfu explained.

“We graduated our top three runners,” Talbot-Syfu said. “Which means the opportunity for a lot of young runners and new students.”

“My expectation is that we improve each week, which allows everyone to feel that their hard work is paying off,” Talbot-Syfu added.

Senior Captain Oliver Lawrence is optimistic about his team’s season.

“This is a rebuilding year because we had a lot of seniors who graduated last year, but we have a lot of young talent and motivation,” Oliver said. “My goal as a senior and captain is for everybody to grow as a runner and for us to grow as a team.”

Rob Champigny, 18, the Co-Captain of the team, is looking forward to running the new course with his teammates. “We are led by a really young team,” said Rob, “so I think we will be competitive, but mainly it will be a learning experience for years to come.”

About the new course, Rob added, “It is probably going to be a lot slower, there are a lot more hills compared to our last course.”

The Cross Country team has a couple big meets coming up soon. They will face Northfield Mount Hermon, Suffield Academy, Worcester Academy, and Kent.

Cross Country endures a pretty tough training week. Mondays they run four to eight miles; Tuesday they have a hard workout, but run less; Wednesdays they have pool jogging; on Thursdays, they have a moderate workout and run three miles; and the day before the race they run two miles.