What happens when a team loses its best seniors but still wants to compete at a high level? For Mount Carmel cross country, that’s the big question this fall.
The Caravan are starting the 2025 season with fewer runners than usual, but the upcoming juniors and seniors look to step up as leaders. With Catholic League, Regionals, and other big meets ahead, the focus is on discipline, teamwork, and pushing each other to get better.
Last year’s seniors, including top runners Christos Dimas and Leonard Siegal, being gone is now felt for the Caravan. Now, senior captains Adam Stanislawski and TJ Kolke, along with junior leader Nolan Esquivel, are guiding the younger runners.
Head coach Mr. Daniel Burke ’98 says the smaller group isn’t a problem if the commitment stays strong. He also believes in the long run the Caravan can end up back competing for a state title.
“We’re just missing some guys, but the ones we do have are committed,” Coach Burke said. “It means the guys who are here have to step up and work even harder.”
Mount Carmel has always been strong in cross country, usually making it out of regionals. But this year the team has fewer varsity runners, which creates challenges. “Personally, I want to break 19 minutes this year,” Stanislawski said. “But as a team, we’re a little shorthanded. We only have four or five runners for varsity, which makes things tough when we usually have seven.”
Even with a smaller roster, Kolke believes this season is about intensity and leadership. “This year I just want to keep the intensity on all the way through,” he said. “I’ve got to be a captain and make sure guys aren’t coasting. It’s about pushing them and showing them what it takes.”
Esquivel, while not a senior yet, now feels more responsibility as an upperclassman. “Being a junior, I definitely feel a sense of leadership now,” he said. “I just want to be consistent and set an example for the underclassmen who are still learning.”
Motivation, players say, comes from the team’s atmosphere. Esquivel said his family and teammates keep him going when practices get tough. Also he does think when he does good and his family is there to watch him it’s a great feeling. Kolke believes showing up matters most.
“Everyone’s going to have off days,” he said. “But when you give it your all, even then it motivates the rest of the team to do the same.”
Coach Burke hopes that message sticks even after high school. “This is a sport you can do for your whole life,” he said. “You may not run in college, but you can always be a runner.”
As the Caravan prepares for big meets like Catholic League and regionals, their message is simple: stay disciplined, stay consistent, and keep building for the future. They all feel if they stay unified as one they can do great things this season.
“I feel like this season is going to be a good one,” Esquivel said. “We’ve got some dedicated freshmen and seniors, and I think overall it’s just going to be great.”
