Cameron Graves and Maggie Smith, Woolies X-Country

MILLBURY, Mass. -  Of all of high school sports, probably the one that gets the least amount of coverage is the Cross-Country team. Unlike the team sports of like football and soccer ongoing, the meets are spread over a large area, and even if you attend one, you won't see much other than possibly the start and finish.

Which is a shame because Millbury under coach Mike DiGangi is home to some pretty good runners that are upper classmen and other younger up and coming ones that are sure to make their mark on the sport.

On Friday a couple of the upperclassmen runners for each of the girls and boys teams sat down with us for a few moments before practice. So meet Cameron Graves and Maggie Smith.

Cameron Graves is the captain of the Boys team, the senior has been running since his freshman year. This past week he finished third in the meet with Shepherd Hill finishing just 18 seconds behind the second place finisher.

Asked about the Boys' chances this fall, Graves spoke honestly, "I think we'll win a few meets, we have a few really solid runners but there are teams that are definitely ahead of us. But I think we can win a few."
When the subject of running in college came up he said "I think if I attend one of the state schools, I will try out for the team, but if not I will still continue to run, but just as a hobby. Graves is currently looking at attending Boston University or UMass Amherst next year upon graduation.

Graves when asked about who the Woolies biggest competition will be this season said, "I think we've already face our two toughest meets in Tantasqua and Sheperd Hill, Shepard Hill is always good" he said.

Maggie Smith is a senior captain as well for the girls team, she has been running competitive cross country since her sophomore year.

Smith was optimistic about the girls' outlook, "I think the Girls' team will do well, we have a lot of young, promising runners and I think that we'll do well this season." She added, "I also run spring indoor track, but don't plan on continuing to run competitively once high school is over, just as a way of staying fit."
Smith is looking at the University of Connecticut and Rhode Island as two possible destinations for college upon graduation.

On the subject of the Lady Woolies biggest competition, Smith thinks "Northbridge, Uxbridge and Shepherd Hill are the best teams we'll face this season. We lost to them (Shepherd Hill) by one point this week." Smith was also quick to point out the up and coming runners on the girls side that are emerging, "we have a couple of 7th and 8th graders that are really promising runners" she said.
"Angie and Danielle are young and already really good without any real training yet.

Both of the runners, like all kids their age have i-pods but neither has a favorite band or musical taste. Graves says during his training runs, he likes "anything fast paced to keep me up and going." While Smith said her parents don't want her listening to her music while running "because they don't want me to get hit by a car, but on a treadmill I listen all the time and I just listen to anything that is fast paced."

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