Season Stories: Andrew Marston

Many people, including myself overlooked what turned out to be a very strong Conestoga squad. They dreamed big and luckily we are able to hear from their top guy and leader, junior Andrew Marston.

Marston entered the summer “frustrated after missing out on states the year before”, so to ensure that didn’t happen again, Marston put in more work than ever before during the summer. This plan turned out pretty well, as Marston comments on his summer training: “I entered the preseason in the best shape of my life and some of my teammates came into the preseason in great shape as well.” Although he was led by “very few goals individually”, he had a big goal in mind: Get Conestoga to the state meet for the first time since 1979. 

The Conestoga squad raced very well during the regular season, going undefeated at every meet they attended. Marston discusses one of the turning points of the squad: “We also picked up a turning point win in the central league when we raced Penncrest early in the season on a very fast course and we were able to beat them,” Marston called the race a “huge boost” confidence wise, since he knew he could run with some of the best in the state, the Kazanjian twins. 

Going into the District meet, Conestoga wanted to pack it up and finish well; they did just that capturing the runner-up place to West Chester Henderson. Marston however was not satisfied: “As an individual, I was a little disappointed with my race, because although I ran fast, I thought I could have ran with some of those guys in the top pack”. 

Luckily, Marston would get one more shot at those runners on the hills of Hershey. Since the main season goal of making it to the state meet had been accomplished, Marston said “my nerves were a lot lower and I stayed generally relaxed”. This along with his love for hills may have given him an edge over the field, as he went out a big behind the lead pack with teammate Gunner. After going out in 35^th place, Marston “tried to do my passing on the hills and just stride down the downhills,” as he slowly moved up on the field. After hitting the two mile in 20^th place, Marston really took off, and eventually finished 9^th overall.

Marston is a young man who runs for his team, and always put them first. When reviewing his race, he was very happy to have grabbed a state medal, but commented first on his team’s performance and goals: “As a team we were disappointed with the 7th place finish but we know this means we just have to put in more work for next year so we can come back faster and stronger.” And on a team with 6 of 7 returning juniors, you can bet Conestoga will do just that.