Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ERHS) won the Prince George’s County Cross Country Championships in Fort Washington Park on Wednesday, October 16.
The cross country teams headed to Fort Washington with the intent to win yet another county championship. At the end of the day, they achieved this goal with the boys varsity and junior varsity (JV) teams both taking home first and the girls varsity taking home fourth.
The biggest standout from the event was senior Jaleb Saunders who came first in the varsity boys event and who not only set a new personal record as well as breaking the school record but also broke an approximately 30-year-old county championship record. According to Athletic Live, Saunders finished the 5,000 meters with an impressive time of 15 minutes and 16.41 seconds.
Saunders also held the previous school record and breaking that record served as motivation during the event. “The huge motivator was the school record, which wasn’t too far off from the county record,” Saunders told the News Review, “it was just a matter of can I get them both in one race.”
Another huge motivator that pushed Saunders to another level was the sense of competition. The second place finisher at the championships served as a “rival” for Saunders and pushed him to “work and race harder than [he] ever [has].”
In fact, every ERHS runner on the boys varsity team set a personal record as did all the girls on the varsity team and many of the JV runners.
Last week’s performance helped solidify Saunders as number one in the state of Maryland for Class 4A and put him as the favorite for the state championship, according to head coach Elgin Gordon. “I think I can bring this county championship into regionals and state and basically represent P.G. County,” said Saunders.
A big difference in the preparation for the season for Saunders was practicing during the summer. “We had him doing work during the summer time so that he was already in shape instead of getting in shape when the season starts,” said Gordon. “It’s really good to see all that training pay off,” said Saunders.
Coach Gordon himself has an impressive resumé. Although he did not run cross country, he was a track and field standout athlete at ERHS. While there he made the United States Junior National Team and won a gold medal in the Junior World Championships. He says his coaching staff also have an impressive portfolio.
Gordon started coaching track and field at the high school in 2012, but only started coaching cross country four years ago. In those four years however, the cross country team has won three out of a potential four county championships, only losing the championship in his second year coaching.
This year’s county championship was the third in his career, and he prepped the kids by telling them about leaving a legacy. “For the kids, this was an opportunity to leave their legacy, winning the county championship three out of four years,” said Gordon. “No one can take that away from them.”
Saunders came into the sport in his freshman year which was around when Gordon started coaching it, and credits the coach for his own personal success in the sport. “Over the course of the four years he’s really helped me essentially come into this sport and learn to love it,” said Saunders about Coach Gordon.
Currently in his senior year, Saunders has a cross country career that is only just beginning. He is interested in continuing to run cross country in college and, based on how he does in college, perhaps at a professional level.
Jake Ballard is a University of Maryland student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism writing for the News Review.