Cross Country
Schedule
Schedule
| Opponent | Date | Time | Location | Advantage | Details | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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vs.
Thayer Academy, Noble & Greenough School, Marianapolis Prep, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, The Governor's Academy, Middlesex School
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Home | View Recap | Results in recap | ||
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vs.
The Governor's Academy, Groton School
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The Governor's Academy | Away | View Recap | Results in recap | |
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vs.
The Governor's Academy, Lawrence Academy, Milton Academy
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Milton Academy | Away | View Recap | Results in recap | |
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vs.
Tabor Academy, Rivers School, Groton School
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Home | View Recap | Results in recap | ||
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vs.
St. Mark's School, Belmont Hill School, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
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St. Mark's School | Away | View Recap | Results in recap | |
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vs.
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
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Buckingham Browne & Nichols School | Away | View Recap | Results in recap | |
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vs.
Thayer Academy, Roxbury Latin School, St. Sebastian's School
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Home | View Recap | Results in recap | ||
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vs.
ISL Championships, All ISL Schools
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Wrentham Development Center | TBD | View Recap | ||
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vs.
NEPSTA DIII Championships
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The Wheeler School | Away | Details about Cross Country |
Overview
Cross Country
The cross-country program — both 1st and 2nd teams — is conducted as one team. We gladly accept all types of runners and make no cuts based on performance or running ability. Training is both team-centered and individualized; each athlete receives their own training plan throughout the season that is conducive to their growth and success on the team. Practices are designed so that each runner is challenged to the best of their ability and all athletes are working together and supporting each other. All runners participate in the races each week on either the 1st or 2nd team.
Our goal is to welcome every student interested in running and develop them throughout their years here at Brooks. It is indeed quite common that a student with little or no running experience in their first year will — through hard work and dedication — end up on the 1st team in their sixth form year. Even if running is not your main sport of interest, it is an excellent way to cross-train for most other sports. Many of our top runners play varsity sports during other seasons, such as crew, squash or wrestling.
Each May, the returning runners are given a summer plan for workouts. It is expected that runners will arrive in the fall prepared to pursue a vigorous running and practice schedule. While we occasionally run off-campus, most workouts are conducted on campus, as the Brooks cross country course is regarded as one of the best marked, prettiest and more challenging of the private school courses in New England. The course passes over grass fields, wood-chipped trails in the woods along the lake shore and even a short bit on the paved school driveway. It also has three major hills that provide a challenge to even the best runners.
Spectators also enjoy the course because the start and finish are both in a wide-open field and the first mile mark is at the same spot as the start of the race. Because the Brooks course is so popular, it has been the site of the New England Championship Race five times in the past 16 years. Brooks also hosted the 2007 and 2011 Independent School League Championship races.
Coaches
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CoachJoanna McDonough, Ed.D, joined Brooks School 2017 as a history teacher and cross country coach. She majored in history at Mount Holyoke College and was a four-year member and captain of the basketball team. She continued her education at Brown University, where she received an M.A.T. degree in history/social studies education. She earned her Doctor in Education degree from Northeastern University in 2022. Dr. McDonough's research and dissertation focused on equity and justice in classroom practices and academic programming. Her previous position was at Miss Porter’s School, where she served as history department chair and led the cross country and track and field teams as the head coach. At Brooks, Dr. McDonough has served as a history teacher, self-in community teacher and dean of curriculum and instruction. In 2024, she was appointed dean of teaching and learning. Dr. McDonough is also the program director of cross country, winter term and serves on the Diversity Leadership Council.
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CoachMichele Becker joined the Brooks community as a Latin teacher in 2023. A Chicago native, she fell in love with Boston in 2012 and moved out east to pursue her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in classics and secondary education from Boston College. Previously, Becker taught Latin and comparative mythology for six years at Saint Joseph Prep Boston, where she also coached cross country and track. Becker is passionate about all things Rome and Italian culture and has been lucky enough to spend many summers living there, learning through experience. Her academic passions include studying ancient propaganda through art and architecture, Roman history and Greco-Roman mythology. She lives in Boston, where she spends her free time cooking, dreaming up her next trip to Italy and teaching spin classes.
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CoachMichele Musto is the chair of the history department. She has significant boarding school experience, having lived and worked at Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut and the Millbrook School in New York in a variety of teaching, residential and coaching roles. Most recently, she was at the Tilton School, where she taught history across a range of courses and grade levels and served as a dorm parent in a junior girls dorm. Musto has been recognized for her award-winning work integrating technology into her history classroom. Prior to teaching, she was a museum curator and she has worked at a variety of museums, including one dedicated to the history of timekeeping. While working in museums she wrote several award-winning exhibitions and catalogs on topics ranging from 20th century fashion to the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Conn. Musto lives on campus with her husband Pascale and two daughters, Isabella and Giada.
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CoachCam Segal joined the Brooks college counseling office in 2025 after five years working in the admission offices of Hamilton College and Boston University. Raised in Marblehead, Massachusetts, he is a graduate of Pingree School and Connecticut College, where he studied American studies and teaching. Segal earned his EdM from Boston University, concentrating in higher education administration. In his free time, he enjoys running with Boston’s Midnight Runners, playing soccer with friends and spending time with his three brothers.