BC girls start their own cross country team after being denied club funding
Girls gotta run
The journey started last year when Anna Peaslee posted in the Boston College Class of 2017 Facebook group, asking if anyone would be interested in joining a club cross country team.
After garnering an immense amount of interest, Anna and friend Jillian Valpey – also class of 2017 – drafted up a proposal to submit to BC’s office for club sports.
Anna said: “We figured since so many schools in the area have club XC teams, why couldn’t we have a team?”
Their proposal was denied. Anna and Jillian rewrote and resubmitted the proposal to BC. They created a Facebook group titled “Eagles Women’s Club Cross Country Team” to keep all the eager runners updated on the club’s status.
In the spring semester, they held a general interest meeting with Katie DeFusco (’17), even though the club’s approval was not yet certain.
Eagles Club XC member Eleni Papadopoulous recalls the nail-biting time period between April’s general interest meeting and the fall semester.
“I was waiting all summer to hear from Anna, Jillian and Katie. In the fall, when Jill told me that the club wasn’t approved, I was so disappointed. It was frustrating that it didn’t get approved, and it doesn’t make sense that there isn’t a club yet because we have so many talented runners on campus. We could make a really good team.”
The founders’ Facebook post in the XC group managed to sound optimistic, even in the face of a major letdown.
The rejection, however, filled the junior women with newfound motivation. They created a new Facebook group called “Eagles Club XC” and launched into their first season as an unofficial BC club.
An additional challenge was that Anna and Katie had committed to studying abroad in the fall semester. Several team members, including Jillian, Katie Carsky (class of 2016) and Eleni Papodopolous (class of 2017) rose to the occasion to fill in as leaders.
Their responsibilities include mapping out the upcoming practice’s running routes in advance and posting the maps in the Facebook group, as well as committing themselves to leading practices.
Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evening, the women’s Eagles XC team gathers at a meeting spot outside the Plex.
In the past month, practices have started promptly at 6pm, although there has been discussion of moving this time up as winter approaches. A few minutes after 6, the group jogs over to a grassy area near the reservoir, where team leaders guide the team through a series of warm ups and stretches.
From there, the team is presented with two distance options, so individuals can choose the difficulty of their own practice. Occasionally, if the group is small enough, the girls will decide to run as one pack. After completing the pre-planned route, the team meets back by the reservoir to stretch once more.
Eleni said: “The girls are excited about the club. They’re excited to be on a team again, because we all miss that from high school, and the special bond you make with the other girls on the team.”
While several members are experienced runners, many are not. The members span across every grade level and running ability – some girls have raced competitively, while others are experiencing the sport for the first time.
Regardless of experience or ability, the members are already congealing into one cohesive crew. There is constant getting-to-know-you chatter during stretching and running, and the girls respond with overwhelming excitement any time someone proposes the idea of having team dinners, designing uniforms or finding races in the area to compete in.
The team leaders hope to see the growth over the course of the year.
Anna said: “Our goal for this club is to give girls a chance to train and race at a competitive level.”
The team as a whole hopes to be recognized as an official club sport by BC next year. In the meantime, these girls will continue to pursue the sport they love, fueled by the instinct that they are pioneering something wonderful.