NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- On Dec. 9, the Yale men's cross country team gathered at Ray Tompkins House for the annual team banquet to reflect on, and celebrate, another completed season of racing.
Proceedings were kicked off with opening remarks from Coach David Shoehalter, the Mark T. Young '68 Director of Cross Country and Track and Field. Coach Matt Gutridge, Men's Cross Country Head Coach, added some thoughts on the team's performances over the season and their trajectory heading into the indoor and outdoor track seasons next semester. Gutridge then named the recipient of the John Cleary '54, Mike Stanley '54 award, an honor awarded to the most outstanding member of the team each year who excels in dedication, commitment, and inspiration to the sport of cross country. Finally, the 2022 cross country team captain Cade Brown announced the 2023 captain. The captaincy is determined entirely by the members of the team, who voted on their preferred candidate prior to the banquet.
After a scintillating season on the grass, in which he pushed the team to new heights performance-wise but also culturally, it was no surprise to see junior Sean Kay being named both this year's "MVP" and the next captain of the Yale men's cross country team. Hailing from Melrose, Mass., Kay hasn't had a straightforward path to this season's successes. He began his time at Yale in fall 2020 at the heart of the COVID pandemic, unable to compete or even practice with the team for several months due to the health and safety regulations. It was only the following fall that he was able to open up his Yale career, as he put together an extremely strong 2021 cross country season. He wasn't the team's MVP that year, but he was a vital contributor to any team success and proved to be a dependable scoring runner for the Bulldogs in the postseason races at Heps and Regionals. Injury and illness derailed Kay's preparations for track racing, as he was forced to sit out the entire indoor season and competed only minimally outdoors.
This summer, Kay sat down with Coach Gutridge and made a decision. He decided that he would like to make a step up in the fall, and fully committed himself to Gutridge's summer training plan in which he gradually increased his mileage while juggling a full-time job in Boston. It wasn't a glamorous summer of training for Kay, but, crucially, it was a consistent, uninterrupted period of three months of solid training. Once he returned to campus in August and Gutridge began to sprinkle in some harder workouts, Kay was a new athlete. His 29th place HYP finish marked an underwhelming season opener that clearly didn't reflect his fitness at the time. Three weeks later, Kay, along with Brown and Varun Oberai, redefined what could be considered a "fast 8k" on the team, as he dipped under 23:30 at the Paul Short Run and helped the team to a stunning eighth-place finish. Next up was the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships, where Kay ran the race of his life on the notorious Van Cortlandt Park course as he battled with the leaders the entire way en route to a glorious All-Ivy seventh-place finish. Finally, he backed up that Heps performance with another magnificent showing at the NCAA Division I Northeast Region Championships, where he placed 19th and earned All-Region honors. Such was Kay's progress over the season, that he ran at a faster pace over 10k at Regionals then he did over 6k in his season opener.
Outside of the performances, though, Kay has been a transformational force for positive change in the team. His work ethic in and outside of practice is admirable, and has raised the standard of what is demanded of members of the team. For cross country runners, it is easy to set lofty goals, but it is more difficult to actually follow through and do the necessary work in order to reach those goals. Kay has lofty goals -- nothing less than an Ivy League title -- but his dedication to that is clear to see every day. The phrase "leading by example" couldn't be more fitting. Expect Kay to continue doing that over the coming months, as the team readies itself for indoor and outdoor track campaigns. And expect the proof to be in the pudding with another season of stellar results. The sky's the limit for the Bulldogs under Kay's leadership.
