I don’t know if junior Davis Cote of the Wilton HS boys cross country had ever met or talked with Aidan Byrne, a senior captain of the Danbury HS boys cross country team.
They both competed in the FCIAC cross country championship race at Waveny Park in New Canaan on Tuesday.
Aidan was a bit in front of Davis when they reached the top of the rise for the sprint to the finish line. That’s when Davis saw that Aidan had stumbled to his knees but got up and continued on towards the orange arch at the finish.
Davis was now running alongside Aidan when Aidan again fell to his knees with about 20 meters to go.
Davis looked over his shoulder as he neared the finish line and made a decision which would be more significant than whatever place he would have earned: He stopped and went back to Aidan, helping him to his feet and supporting him over those last 20 meters to cross the finish line.
Aidan received medical attention from the athletic trainers and Davis just went on to the line of finishers like he would under normal circumstances.
The FCIAC has worked to improve sportsmanship for all the teams competing in the league and now it can add to its sportsmanship conference the picture of Davis and Aidan crossing the finish line and tell the story above to all future athletes.
Congratulations to Davis for being a student athlete who knows what the spirit of competition is and showing us all a life lesson.