Kieran Scannell’s practice on Cook County trails this summer—he is pictured here at the Fisherman’s Picnic Trail Run—served him well at his new school, Phillips Exeter Academy. He won his first two races there.
Cook County High School’s loss of cross country runner Kieran Scannell has been Phillips Exeter Academy’s gain. Scannell transferred to Phillips Exeter of Exeter, New Hampshire for the start of his junior year, and in a dual meet against Portsmouth High School on September 14 on Phillips Exeter’s home course, he won the 5K race with a personal record of 16:16.
Phillips Exeter’s top five runners came in first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth place for a score of 18. Portsmouth’s top five runners came in third, seventh, eighth, ninth, and 10th for a score of 37.
In the academy’s school newspaper, The Exonian, staff writer Nissim Ray quoted Scannell on his impressions after the race: “I think that for my first race, it was great. It was a hot day, and I might have faster times as the season goes on.”
The paper said the Phillips Exeter team started the season with a lot of miles logged over the summer and a strategy of staying with the pack and marking opponents to avoid falling behind.
Preseason workouts were intense and included repeated 1.4- mile loops on steep hills. The Exonian stated that coaches have encouraged competition among team members even during training runs in order to create “an environment in which all runners try to push each other to do better….”
Scannell’s next meet was September
28 against St. Paul’s
School of Concord,
New Hampshire.
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private school and the alma mater of Kieran’s father, County Attorney Tim Scannell.
As the Cook County News-Herald was going to press, Tim Scannell reported that Kieran had won his second meet as well. Fighting a cold on a hilly course on St. Paul’s home turf, Kieran came in first in the 5K with a time of 16:48 in a 14-runner field. The next runner was five seconds behind.
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