This was the first time a BPS school has ever won a X-C championship.

The BPS Girls team scored a decisive win over Canton High School to win the state title.

The underdog BPS boys squad defeated Longmeadow High School by one point.

The glittering glow of athletic history has landed on the Boston Co-op Cross-Country team that recently won the M.I.A.A. (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) Division 2 Championship for the first time in the 100+ year event. The official notification is that the M.I.A.A has sponsored the Boys’ competition for 68 years and 65 years for the Girls’ contests.

The Co-op program reached higher standards under the leadership of Coach Hatim Jean-Louis about 10 years ago. “The reason for a co-op team was due to the lack of young people in Boston inner-city schools who wanted to run cross country (a distance of 5,000 meters) for their individual schools,” says current coach Michael Ward. “You need 3-5 strong runners to have a competitive cross-country team. Most young athletes today are interested in the ‘glamour sports’ (football, basketball, baseball, etc.). Cross-country gets no love.”

Ward further explained: “I spent my first years with Coach Hatim trying to recruit and develop young cross-country runners,” he said. “It’s tough to find young athletes who want to go through the everyday grind of cross-country training, which entails running 20-40 miles a week, with no days off. That regimen takes a special type of dedication and work ethic, in order to be successful at this sport.”

This current history-making team began showing signs of being “special” a couple of years ago, and the seeds of success were clearly evident last year when the Girls team finished third in the state championship competition, and the Boys team came in seventh.

“We knew that this team was willing to go harder to achieve their ultimate goal,” the coach further explained. “They worked extremely hard in training all summer and returned this year stronger and better.”

Coach Ward reflects on a mid-October meet in Falmouth as the “moment” he felt that this co-op team stepped to a higher level: The Girls won their competition by one point. The Boys finished in third place, just five points from first place. “That meet showed people that despite the size of our team of 25 (15 Boys/10 girls competing against some high school teams fielding as many as 100 runners), we were a group of tough and determined competitors.”

The top runners for this team are Girls: Sara Blanco (John D. O’Bryant High School), Neve Flynn (Boston Latin Academy) and Anjuli Szyldo (Boston Latin Academy); and Boys: Bradon Spiess (John D. O’Bryant ), Adam Kramer (John D. O’Bryant), Ryan Collins (Boston Latin Academy), and Terrance McGhee (sophomore, Dearborn Academy). McGhee, from the celebrated Boston Lions Track Club, is the youngest member of this talented team.

When asked about the cohesiveness of this squad, Ward responded, “It is a strange dynamic in that these athletes compete against each other in different competitions, but have gelled as a team.” He said it is one of the most rewarding parts of his coaching job to see them come together as a unit. “A lot of this chemistry was formed as they ran together in practice.”

The culmination of all those hours of running through Franklin Park and Moakley Park produced a history-making championship team. By virtue of the girls’ dominant 30-point victory over Canton High School and the boys’ nail-biting one-point triumph over Longmeadow High School in this year’s title race, this special team of 25 placed their names in history as the first Boston City High School team to achieve championship glory in the sport of cross-country running.

Coach Ward said he himself did not believe he’d come to grips with their achievement as yet. “It’s just starting to sink into my head what this team has achieved,” he said. “I’ll always remember the journey to reach this point and the fact that Mr. Hatim Jean-Louis and I saw this thing through together.” He praised Coach Hatim as a mentor and confidant through what he deemed a wonderful excursion. “We both share in this milestone achievement,” he added. “You don’t get to think of something like this while it is happening, but you sure get to relish it when it becomes a reality.”

And the reality of it all is this: In the 100+ years of cross-country running in New England high schools, only one team from the city of Boston has won the M.I.A.A. top team prize. Congratulations to the Boston Co-op Cross Country team, the 2025 M.I.A.A.

Division 2 State Champions, in one of the most physically challenging sports competitions.

This sport is not for the faint of heart. It is for those willing to push their bodies to untold limits daily, to achieve victory. Cross-country runners are that rare breed of athletes who compete “against and for” their teammates simultaneously. Each wants individual glory, but realizes that team victory is the ultimate prize.

Boston Co-op Coach Ward understands this lesson all too well. The teacher of engineering at John D. O’Bryant High School will be etched in history as the architect of the first Boston City Cross-Country state championship team. This achievement would make any ‘builder” very proud. Enough said.