MVXC 2015: 1-Maddy Yip, 2-Paru Meyyappan, 3-Namrata Subramanian, 4-Claire Chang, 5-Sarah Feng, 6-Aiden Gottlieb, 7-Aravind Meyyappan.
I love this photo; it evokes the spirit of the 2015 season and much more.
We were running the first set of hill repeats on Matt’s Hill for the 2015 season. Three of the varsity girls—Maddy, Paru, and Nam—were about to lead us off. In this photoe, intensity and focus radiates from them, hands poised on their watches to record their splits. All seniors and juniors, all captains or future captains; they knew what they were doing.
Almost everyone was paying attention to the varsity girls, but look at the two freshmen, Claire and Sarah. They were dialed in, trying to learn and looking for role models. And they found them—both Claire and Sarah went to the State meet as freshmen.
Also in the crowd were Aiden and Aravind. Both had older sisters who ran for MVXC and were part of a big contingent of siblings that year, contributing significantly to the team culture on and off the course.
That team went on to finish seventh in the section and went to the State Championships, with freshmen as our first and third runners.
Angela Duckworth would listen to me talk about this photo and what happened that season, and she would nod sagely, discussing the power of effective groups. Researchers find that learning from others is one of the most powerful components of both individual and group success, and can help reduce performance anxiety and increase individual motivation*. That has certainly been our experience at MVXC—we have a strong group, and our individuals have achieved a lot and developed habits that lead to more success. Maddy, Paru, Nam, Claire, Sarah, Aiden, and Aravind went on to colleges like Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, McGill, University of Washington, and Miami. Maddy and Paru ran in college, and the group has already earned three master’s degrees.
I believe, and there is data to support this, that a positive group dynamic makes individual effort more effective and easier. You can go further with less effort when you are with others. That makes us friends and comrades, working towards common goals while helping each other achieve individual success. What we learn about teams at MVXC can translate to other groups we will be a part of in the future, such as study groups in college, work teams in our careers. That is the real goal–to not only be successful in our running this coming season, but also to learn skills that help us thrive throughout our lives.
I look at that photo with fondness and nostalgia, but also with excitement, because all of you are about to experience the power of being part of a great group—MVXC in the 2024 season!
(If you are looking for something to binge-watch during the last few days of freedom before school starts, may I suggest the anime “Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!“? It’s about four high school girls who bond over their passion for animation. It’s relevant to a discussion about the power of a group. As Midori tells Mizusaki’s parents, they are not just friends; they are comrades, learning together, supporting each other, and working towards a common goal.
If you watch this anime and get through episode 4, I bet you’ll be hooked. Let me know!)
*See, for example, Team Dynamics Perceptions, Motivation, and Anxiety in University Athletes by Orlando Reyes-Hernández et al, 2021, https://doi.org/ 10.3390/su13020648.
