Please visit our new website at www.dragons.run .
This page is no longer updated.

Fall 2019 Cross Country team is coming!

Unlike past years, tryouts for the Fall 2019 team will begin on the first day of practice in August--Monday the 19th to be specific. Returning athletes need to meet a minimum qualifying time, and prospective runners need to complete a three-practice evaluation. That will begin on the first day in August that they attend (with necessary paperwork) but can start no later than the first day of school.

Fall 2018

Fall 2018 practices will start on Monday, August 20 at 9:00am in Van Cortlandt Park.

This website is being redesigned. Please contact Coach Henning directly with your questions.

Practices start soon!

Cross Country practices begin in just a few days. Please come dressed to run and bring  paper copies of the PSAL Sports Medical form as well as the PSAL Parent Permission form. Weekdays from August 14 to August 31 we can be found in Van Cortlandt Park from 9am to 11am. Arrive before 9am at the point indicated below.

Come run with us!

Indoor Track team now in the PSAL

For two years we've had an Indoor Track team that has trained and competed at the Armory Track & Field Center in Washington Heights. However, due to factors beyond our control we were not able to compete in the Public School Athletic League as our fall and spring team have for years. Now that has changed.
The result will be more racing opportunities, better training, and a chance to compete against schools rather than individuals. The team has been waiting three years for this opportunity and will be making the most of it starting in mid-November.

Outdoor Track 2017

A great season has ended with a record six athletes in the City Championships.  Have a look at our Fans page on Facebook for all the photos. To close out the season we are holding our team banquet and team picnic in the coming week.

The Cross Country team for next fall is already off to a great start.  52 members of the incoming HSMSE class have expressed interest in the team and we look finding some great runners among them.

 

 

August Practices

Team practices begin on Monday, August 15 at 9am in Van Cortlandt Park. We'll be practicing throughout the park but meet on Broadway under the 1 train terminal at 242nd Street.  We finish at 11am each day at the same location.

Temperatures the first week will be about 80 degrees in the mornings and won't affect practices. Athletes should bring water bottles and drink whenever they feel the need to.

Fall team roster announced

After a one-mile tryout conducted on the league's Cross Country course in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, Coach Henning has selected members of the fall team.  The list below shows both athletes that immediately qualified and those who need to meet a specified goal time by our first practice on August 15.

Outdoor Track is underway

The Outdoor Track team is underway with a committed group of 54 runners, including 9 girls. We have strong performers at every distance--sprint, middle, and long--as well as long jump and for the first time this year, pole vault. We are looking forward to even more City Championship qualifiers as all three of last year's are returning and we have even more developing talent coming behind them. It's going to be a great spring!

Inaugural Indoor Track season a success!

The Flying Dragons ran a club team during the Indoor Track season this year. We hope to compete in the PSAL next year, but this year completed successfully in two invitational meets. Practices and meets were held at the amazing New Balance Track & Field Center just a mile from school at the Armory at West 168th Street.

You can find almost 300 photos of our Indoor meets and practices at Fans of the Flying Dragons on Facebook

We're at the Mayor's Cup today, including the boys Championship race

The Dragons will be at the big Mayor's Cup race today, with our varsity getting its first chance to run in the Championship race with 18 of the city's best teams. It's the one chance that we get to run against schools from Catholic and independent schools. The varsity race distance is 2.5 miles, and for freshmen it 1.5 miles. Here's Prasid Gupta in last year's varsity race.

First races this coming week

The boys and girls teams will be facing their first test this coming Monday in the borough-wide Grand Prix #1.  Completing against some of the best teams in the city--Stuyvesant, Laguardia, Hunter, and Beacon--we will get a good sense of where we stand and how much work we have to do. The team is well prepared physically and is mentally focused for Monday's contest.  The citywide Group Run (and Family Picnic) will be a few days later on Saturday, September 26. Here's a first group photo of the team and a link to our updated, and final, team calendar.

Click here for a PDF copy of the calendar.

And they're off!

Team practices for all runners--Rostered, Provisional, and Prospective--begin Monday August 17.  Meet us before 9:00am in the Bronx on Broadway where the subway steps descend from the 242 St. station. Bring the required Parent Permission and PSAL Sports Medical forms, and be dressed to run!

Below is an image of our first team calendar for the season. Click here to download a PDF copy.

Dragons Fly on Monday August 17

The Summer Dragons, about a dozen in all, have been keeping in shape with runs in Central Park on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Thanks to Michael Alvin for organizing that!

Team practices will be starting soon-- August 17th-- three full weeks before school begins! The first day will include tryouts runs for incoming freshman and those on the provisional roster.

Qualifying runs for the Varsity and JV-A squads will be held on Friday September 11.

To attend the first practice, everyone needs to bring (or have on file) a current PSAL Sports Medical form as well as a NEW Parent Permission form.  Both can be found on this website under the "How To Join" tab.

The fall 2015 team takes shape

Coach Henning conducted two tryouts for current HSMSE students interested in joining the 2015 Cross Country team. The results were quite gratifying- the cutoff times for the fall team needed to be almost a minute faster than last fall's. The runners at HSMSE are getting very fast indeed in this, the sixth year of our program. To summarize: 

58 current students ran the tryout
26 met their time standard
18 were accepted provisionally

The last group will be placed on the roster once they meet the time standard set by the coach.

Incoming freshman have shown great interest in the Flying Dragons, with ten girls and twenty boys indicating interest in joining at our recent Orientation meeting. There will be room this fall for 10-15 freshman.

Three Outdoor Track athletes qualify for the PSAL City Championships

From Coach Henning:

Today was the last day of Track team practice for 2015, and from 52 athletes in March I'm down to three. These amazing guys qualified to run in the New York City Track & Field Championships this coming Sunday and are my pride and joy: Austin Carvey will be running the 400 meter hurdles, Wayne Chim will be doing the long jump, and Lucian Ramnarase will be running the mile. All have braved bad weather, fierce competition, and the occasional bit of self doubt to become among the best runners in the largest city in America. It's been a privilege to have coached them.

Girls kick off our season at Dewitt Clinton HS

After two canceled raced (due to weather) the Flying Dragons were thrilled to get on the track for the first time in the PSAL Spring Series #2 at Dewitt Clinton High School.

Saturday's Season Opener cancelled

Saturday's meet at Icahn Stadium has been cancelled due to inclement weather. We look forward to starting our racing season next week with the girls running Spring Series #2 on Tuesday and the whole team at The Hornet Relays on Saturday, March 28th.

Not waiting!

The season has begun and despite the snow we're off and running! This year 85 students tried out for the team, and after an extensive evaluation process involving eight different measures, a solid team of 52 was chosen. Races begin in two weeks.