This season has felt longer than normal for Barrington High School boys cross country coach Mike Katz… and the first meet was only this past Saturday.

Coach Katz said his work with the team started months ago, when the boys started training at captains practices. He said he would not typically attend the captains practices, but did so this year because of the restrictions implemented by the state. Coach Katz said he wanted to make sure all his runners were being safe and following the guidelines.

Coach Katz also worked with the other cross country coaches at the high school to build special protocols for league meets, offering guidance on how the races should take place and how fans can safely attend the events. (State officials were so impressed with the protocols that they have adopted them for the whole league.)

"It's just been a lot of work involved," Coach Katz said.

The hard work paid dividends on Saturday, as Barrington opened up the regular season. As an added bonus, the BHS boys team celebrated wins over Mt. Hope High School (25-31), Moses Brown (17-42) and Wheeler (21-38).

The Eagles placed two runners in the top three — junior Holden Vaughan won the race with a time of 17:35 on the 3.1-mile course, while freshman Brandon Piedade finished third overall with a time of 18:21. Noah Buller, a junior, finished fourth with a time of 18:36 and senior Adam Copple was ninth with a time of 19:17.

Coach Katz said this year's cross country team is young, but has worked hard during the preseason. The coach said his team is coming off one of its toughest seasons in recent memory — the Eagles just barely qualified for states last year, and failed to earn a team spot at regionals.

Vaughan was the lone BHS runner to earn a spot at the New Englands, and he will lead the charge for the Eagles this fall, along with Buller and Piedade. Coach Katz also said tri-captains Jackson Montour, Jordan Freij and Copple are expected to make key contributions, along with junior Caleb Schultz and sophomore Charlie Stockwell.

"They're a hard-working team," Coach Katz said.

The season will feature four regular season meets, followed by class championships, JV states, freshmen states and varsity states.

JV meet winner

In addition to winning the varsity races, Barrington also boasted the top finisher in the JV race: BHS freshman Ethan Baker won with a time of 19:58.