Around Middletown in 80 Days: Day 7

Xavier High School
Cross Country Alumni Meet
6pm

The last Monday of August marks an annual event held at Xavier High School. At 6pm, the Xavier High School Cross Country team will run a 3 mile race against many of the alumni of the program. It is a very competitive team event, as many of the alumni are still very athletic, very competitive and very fast and traditionally give the team a good, close race. Most importantly, the race maintains a wonderful sense of tradition for the program.

Being that cross country is not a highly visible sport, many don't realize how special the Xavier High School program has been. Xavier High School has represented Middletown on the state and national cross country scene over the past 40 years, winning 10 state open championships, producing multiple individual champions and All-American runners and a member of the USA National Team in the marathon. The man responsible for these championships, retired Coach Robert Michalski, was inducted into the Middletown Sports Hall of Fame last February.

The Xavier Cross Country course is special in that it is one of the few high school race courses left that takes place completely on grass and trails. The race starts in the practice fields behind Xavier, winds through the campus and athletic fields and the trails. The best spot to watch from is the track, which will allow you to see almost all of the first mile of the race, and the final 500 meters. The finish line is along the outfield fence of the baseball field.