With COVID wreaking havoc on many students’ plans for the upcoming fall semester, some members of Haverford’s cross country and track teams have come up with creative solutions to thwart the quarantine malaise. The Clerk interviewed Matt Katz ’22 (with a gap year) and Ryan Kredell ’23 over Zoom to talk about their plans.
The two were set up in a dimly-lit basement that Katz described as having “spooky creepy cabin vibes.” Out of view from the camera was the “peanut gallery”, who acted as teleprompters and made Katz and Kredell laugh between questions.
“It’s going to be a wild and interesting time for everyone. Not just for us here but for everyone back at Haverford too,” Katz said.
The two are among a handful of Goats and Bees who have elected to stay at their teammate Nico Tripeny’s grandfather’s home in Casper, Wyoming. Right now there are four boys and two girls, but by October there will be a total of 11.
“There’s only one kitchen, which might make things complicated. So far we’ve been making meals individually and as a group and it hasn’t been bad yet,” Kredell said. “We’re anticipating the worst, though, once there are 11 people and one kitchen.”
Thankfully, most people have staggered running schedules and since meals and running typically go hand-in-hand, they’re hoping for the best.
“It’s great for running here and super runnable, there’s a really nice river trail that goes along the North Platte River—similar to the Schuylkill River Trail. We’re at altitude so there’s pretty dry heat too,” Katz said.
One of their newfound motivations to train according to Kredell is to “destroy Bernie Sanders’ high school personal record.” According to an article by Fleet Feet, Sanders placed third in the New York City public school one mile with a time of 4:37.
Kredell asks readers: “If anyone knows Bernie and can get him out here to race us that would be great.”
Aside from running, there have been other activities and adventures: namely, exciting visits to Wall Drug and a Domino’s Pizza.
“We were on this road for 350 miles and every mile there would be an advertisement for a place called Wall Drug. At the end, we stopped in this town called Wall and found a place called Wall Drug. It’s really something. It was the highlight of the trip,” Katz said.
When they arrived, the house was unfurnished and uninhabitable.
“The whole house was falling apart. We’ve had electricians and plumbers constantly—getting the house ready for people to live in.” Kredell said.
They ended up at Domino’s, where the worker knew the Tripeny family and gave the guys furniture.
Kredell was left questioning, “Does every Domino’s have loads of couches in their backroom or is it just this one?”
Towards the end of the interview, Tripeny made an appearance to display the Revolutionary Era–esque painting of a flock of geese taking flight.
“It hasn’t really set in how weird it is that we’re just out here living in Wyoming. I think everyone thought that this would be over and we would be back on campus soon. It’s a once in a lifetime experience,” Kredell said.
Aside from running the trails, exploring the town, and destroying Bernie Sanders’ PR, they have other aspirations.
“We might get acquainted with the land and get in with the locals and get suited up in cowboy gear. There are about to be eleven more cowboys in Haverford,” Kredell said.
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