Coming off its best finish at the state meet since 2015, the New Trier boys cross country team was ready to show that last season’s 10th-place showing wasn’t a fluke.

The coronavirus pandemic prompted the Illinois High School Association to cancel all of the state’s spring sports. For much of the summer, it looked like the IHSA was going to do the same with fall sports.

And then, uncertainty hit.

The upcoming season’s uncertainty didn’t deter the Trevians, however, and that’s thanks to the leadership the team had coming back.

New Trier’s top six finishers at the state meet have returned for the 2020 season, as well as one of its top finishers at the sectional.

That means seven of the top eight sectional finishers for the Trevians are aiming for what the team had hoped would be another trip downstate.

George Cahill, a junior, and Conor O’Neill, a senior, have preached the pack mentality.

“We knew we had the experience to get it done and we knew what was at stake, so I feel like that’s given us an advantage coming into these races so far,” Cahill said.

“We also knew how to run really well together,” O’Neill said. “We’ve ran in the same packs last year, so we feel that strategically running together, it helps us a lot.”

Along with a delay to the season, another curveball came at New Trier came in the form of a new coach.

Matthew Sloan took over for David Wisner last spring, moving up from his assistant role. He became only the fourth head coach in program history.

“I wanted them to be able to have the opportunity to race,” Sloan said. “They’ve been putting in the work. It’s just a matter of do we have an opportunity to go out there and show what we can do.”

While the team’s success this season can be attributed to its returnees — as of Sept. 18, New Trier is the state’s top-ranked team in Class 3A, according to MileSplit.com — a change in philosophy last year definitely has played a role.

That change has continued into this year, and was witnessed during a win over Glenbrook South in a dual meet. The Trevians had runners end up finishing 2-3-4-5 and seventh.

Noah Rush, a senior, said the Trevians have overcome obstacles.

“Gathering in social distancing has been tough,” Rush said. “We weren’t really allowed to train in packs, so we had to gather in smaller, more tight-knit groups, more like our top seven guys we’d be racing with.”

“We’ve always been known for our depth and I feel like we’ve distributed that really well,” Cahill said. “We’ve focused more on pack running and staying tough in the middle, that middle mile, and we’ve done a really good job at that.”

The Trevians won’t be able to improve on their state finish from last year as the IHSA has decided to limit its state series to a localized regional.

While that’s a bummer for this year’s team, they know it’s something that’s out of their hands. They can only control what they can do themselves.

“I knew what type of team we had coming back,” Sloan said. “They individually worked out all spring and they’ve been able to stay fit. They’ve laid the groundwork for what they’re achieving right now.

“We’re happy every day that we get to race and work out. It’s a blessing.”

Michael Wojtychiw is a freelancer for the Pioneer Press. Story originally posted on Winnetka Talk website Sept. 18.