After finishing 31st at the Foot Locker Nationals as a sophomore, Phillips Academy’s Tam Gavenas had no inkling of resting on his accomplishment.
This past fall the Andover resident and junior day student at Phillips, pumped up the volume a bit. Our 2023 Eagle-Tribune Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year zoomed home to third place in this year’s event held in December out in San Diego.
Covering the 5K in a sizzling 15:16.6, he placed third overall, the only junior in the race and the youngest athlete, at age 16, to make First-Team All-American.
Now a four-time Eagle-Tribune All-Star – twice in cross country and once each in winter and spring track – Gavenas stands with the region’s elite of elite when it comes to distance running with accomplishments that place him right there with names like John Mortimer of Londonderry and Matt Downin of Pinkerton Academy. And he still has five more seasons of running left for the Big Blue.
Covering the 5K at Franklin Park in 15:07, Gavenas was fourth at the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals to punch his ticket to San Diego. He also placed second at the prestigious New England Prep Division 1 championship meet with a 5K time of 15:06. In his opening meet of the fall, he smashed Olympian Ben True’s 20-year-old Manchester Invitational course record of 15:17 by five seconds, finishing in 15:12.
He finished the fall as the highest-ranking junior in the nation. He’s a true threat to rewrite the region’s record books on track over the next two years.