By Sherri Smith

All organized sport teams elect captains to lead their squads. On the high school level, the player may choose the captain or in the case of the Newtown boys’ cross country team, by the coach. The ‘Hawks head coach, Rich Pesce, has made it his duty every year to choose captains to lead the running Nighthawks.

By definition, captain means commander of a body of troops, and/or a leader of a side or team in a sports contest. The one thing the dictionary does not give is the qualities that are required to carry out these duties. To find those qualities, all you have to do is look at this year’s captains of the boys cross country team, Joe Blanchard, Glenn Stiewing and Chris Carolan. Each captain possesses a quality that is required to lead the side of a team in a sports contest.

“There couldn’t have been a better choice of leadership on the team,” said Pesce. “They were an excellent choice for captains. Each has different qualities of leadership. Joe is quiet, but the kids respond and Chris they respond by seeing and doing and Glenn has been so supportive of all of the runners, a positive influence.”

Glenn Stiewing

As a junior, Stiewing started from square one, learning all about the sport, strategies of running and learning very early that practice is the only way to get better. He started running the summer prior to his junior year of high school and as a junior, threatened the already established varsity team as he claimed a top running position from a seasoned runner, excelling at the sport.

Then came the summer prior to his senior season, a season that was to be successful and see him running in the top of the South West Conference. Late in the summer, riding in the passenger seat of a car, he was in an accident, the result was a crushed left ankle. It was a devastating blow, mentally and physically, not only halting his running, but putting him on the sidelines as a cheerleader in a sport he was going to dominate.

Instead of running along side his teammates and encouraging them, tri-captain Stiewing supports them from the sidelines. “I try to motivate the team, give them confidence and tell them when they are really good,” said Stiewing. “I can’t be out there with them, but I try to make every meet and practice and let them know if anyone has any problems, they can come to me. I just try to be there for them.”

Motivating teammates from the sidelines is not easy, but Stiewing keeps his attitude and comments positive. “I try to tell them they can do it, work through the pain, knowing what it is like. I know every person has it in them to be better and I try to let them know it,” stated Stiewing. “Each and everyone of them has put out 100% in the workouts and races. I’ve seen it in their faces, from Joe, Chris to AJ and even the jayvee kids. It’s amazing.”

Even though Stiewing is standing on the edge of the cross country course cheering on his teammates, he is a figure they look up to and admire. His positive attitude becomes pervasive and flows throughout the team.

Joe Blanchard

Blanchard and Carolan started this journey together as freshmen and are completing their fourth year in an unexpected leadership role. “As a freshman, I saw (Todd) Badillo, (James) Enders and (Mike) Giarrantano as captains and runners that I really looked up to,” said Blanchard. “I never thought I would be anything like them, leading the team, coming in at the top of the race, now its weird, we are the ones the freshmen are looking up to.”

Blanchard is everything his leaders were and more. His former captains had attitudes that were pervasive and were passed down from runner to runner to runner. It helps to form a close nucleus and brings the team closer together.

“This team has excellent camaraderie,” stated Blanchard. “Everyone is working for the same goal, which is SWC’s. We are focused on the championships, then on to state competition.”

Starting as a freshman, Blanchard didn’t know what cross country was all about, learning more in his sophomore year, liking it and enjoying it more. Junior year, Blanchard got serious about the sport, training during the summer and knowing he could be part of a very special running team. His training and work ethics have made a difference in the success of this team.

Blanchard leads with a quiet attitude, training and running strong whether it is a workout or a race. His teammates see this and work as hard as he does, running with Blanchard and listening to his encouragement. “I am trying to teach them that running is a team sport and can be a lot of fun,” said Blanchard. This is just one of many qualities that makes him a qualified captain.

Chris Carolan

Carolan has always enjoyed running, encouraged by his elementary school teacher, Randy Pond, to run on the cross country team. Pond was the assistant coach to Pesce when Carolan was a freshman. “I always liked track and enjoyed running,” stated Carolan. “After I started running, I really enjoyed the sport. It’s fun to run.”

Carolan, like Stiewing and Blanchard, has accepted his leadership duties with confidence and tough work ethics. Reaching expectations, Carolan feels he is doing better than he ever thought he would and continues to strive to improve. His motivations show his teammates they too can improve, becoming better runners, but more importantly, better people.

“Some people think it’s easy to go out and run, but they learn through the cross country team that it’s a lot tougher than what they expected. Some leave and some grow to like it. We try to show them it is not as bad as people say, we have fun running.”

Like Blanchard, Carolan was a bit oblivious to what the sport was all about in his freshman year. Explaining it in one sentence, “Our freshman year we all were participants, after that we were competitors.” Carolan had become addicted to cross country courses.

With a positive attitude, Carolan motivates his teammates by encouraging them while running, noticing them with verbal encouragement and letting his teammates know the captains are watching, waiting to lend a hand when needed.

Coach Rich Pesce

Much of the success a team experiences is because of the coaching techniques and how a coach molds his athletes. Pesce says a lot of the success is due to his captains and their leadership of the team. “The success of this team, needs to be made known, is directly related to July and August. The captains are given summer workouts and go to camps, but as Chris said to me, ‘It wasn’t the camps that were important, what was more important was that we could run together this summer, that we did it together.’ They have to realize they are directly related to the success of this team.”

While Pesce attributes the team’s success to his captains, the three young gentlemen say it is Pesce who helps motivate them to be better. “He is the best coach I have ever had,” said Carolan, echoed by Blanchard and Stiewing. “He doesn’t scream in your face, he helps you along telling you what to do and if you do it, and listen to him, you will do fine,” stated Stiewing. “He motivates us in positive ways.”

Blanchard summed up the personality of his coach. “Mr Pesce is not the kind of coach that yells and screams in your ear when your not running your best, but you always want to run fast for him. We have a lot of respect for him. He is a great leader and coach.”

Pesce doesn’t take all the credit for the success of his runners, but says it is the runners themselves that bring on the success. “I do try to motivate the kids, but I feel it comes from them. I really believe you do it because you motivate yourself. I present it to them, put it on a plate, they either take it or they don’t. They do what I am asking them to do, here are the practices, do them 100%. Everything is done 100% at Newtown cross country. If you do them 100%, you become a successful runner. It’s not so much me motivating them, it’s them motivating themselves. I present it, but it has to come from within the person. I really believe that. It is nice to get the credit, but it is the runner that has to want it.

The season is almost finished and the runners can now focus on their “goal”, leading in the SWC championships. With three fine young tri-captains leading the way and a motivational coach guiding them, Newtown cross country runners will put everything on the line on October 21st at the championships, giving 100% of themselves. There should be nothing but success to follow.