The 5K run begins at noon at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, NY where MacDougall will take on the top runners from across the state after his impressive lone season of XC. 

“After the NYSAIS Championships, I started ramping up training back to average season mileage,” MacDougall said. “Got a few hard workouts in. Now it's just easy running and sharpening up until the big day.”

The senior set the Dalton 5k record at 16:38  with  a 4th-place finish at NYSAIS nearly  three weeks ago. MacDougall has competed in both indoor and outdoor track and field throughout high school spending his first three fall seasons on the soccer pitch before making the jump to cross country, where he played a key role in propelling the Dalton boys’ team to the best season in program history.

“I think it's a lot about consistency,” MacDougall said. “Most guys will improve the most by junior year. Once they get to senior year, they have a slump in their times because they've been running 50, 60 miles a week for a few years. For me, I think an advantage is being new to it. The course was new to me. The training was new to me.”

All those factors added to MacDougall's motivation. He noted the switch to cross country increased his mileage,while runners who already log significant distances might see less dramatic gains from their training. Unsurprisingly, he has no regrets about changing uniforms in the fall. Friends urged him to run XC, and he received a small taste through track and field. He joked that he’s a much better runner than a soccer player anyway. MacDougall has now become the fourth Dalton boy to compete in the NYS Federation XC Championships, joining Jeffrey Weinstein ‘07, Connor Rust ‘22, and Luke Rostan ‘23.

“It means a lot,” MacDougall said. “I see this as the start of my senior campaign. Especially with all the training over the summer, I really want this to be one of the best years ever for Dalton track and Dalton running in general. Unfortunately, I can't bring my group of five training partners, but I'll be representing myself as an individual.” 

Dalton narrowly missed team qualification after the boys finished 2nd at the Ivy Championships and 3rd at NYSAIS. Individually, MacDougall placed 3rd in the 4K at the Ivy meet. Earlier this season, the senior posted the second-fastest 4K time in school history.

“Holden was such a great addition to the XC team this year,” head coach Doug Feinberg said. “He worked hard all summer to get ready for cross country and that effort paid off with one of the best seasons ever by a Dalton runner. Getting a chance to compete at the state meet is just the cherry on top of a fantastic season.” 

MacDougall noted that he loved the community aspect of cross country, whereas in track and field, sprinters and distance runners often practice separately. He appreciated the togetherness of XC and admitted he didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as he did.

As for Saturday, MacDougall said, “I'm probably finishing anywhere from 20th-40th. For me, it's a chance to be in a competitive field on a very hard course and give it everything I got. I've trained too hard and for too long not to give it 100%. I just want to be honest with myself out there on the course."