Local Sports Profile: Ben Warfield
- I
- May 8
- 4 min read
U-32 senior Ben Warfield opened the 2025 cross country season with a 16:04.2 at the Burlington Invitational on Sept. 6, a personal record that culminates his progress built on years of relentless consistency. For his growth and performance throughout Vermont, Warfield has been named the Times Argus Runner of the Year.
“What made Ben remarkable from the start was the extent to which he 100% bought into our team, program and our training,” said longtime U-32 Cross Country coach Andrew Tripp. “As a result he has improved more than any other runner I have coached.”
In his freshman year, Warfield finished 33rd with a 19:50.0 at Thetford Academy’s state championship meet. Nearly two minutes were shaved off within a year, earning an 18:02.6 and fifth place in the following championship race.
“He made a big ‘results’ improvement at the end of 9th grade, but this was a function of his physical maturity catching up with his unmatched work ethic,” said Tripp.
Without the literal strength to persevere, tenacity can only go so far. Tripp points to the consistency in Warfield’s training as the source of his improvement.
“Ben lacks raw foot speed, i.e. he cannot out sprint competitors at the end of the race. While we have worked daily on this for four years, he will never be a ‘sit and kick’ specialist. This means he has to go out and make the race as hard as possible from the first step. Only the bravest runners can do this.” Tripp added, “That’s Ben, he is willing to make every race a suffer-fest.”
Warfield continued to push himself into his junior year with subtle yet steady improvements in his race times. While he earned a faster time at Thetford, 17:57.9, stronger competition pushed his championship position to 10th.
“Ben worked harder and more consistently than his peers - so he improved more. He also has a strong ‘racing brain,’ [which means] he can really go all out. Most kids are limited by normal fears and anxieties related to pain and performance, Ben is largely immune from these doubts. He laces his shoes and races as hard as he can. Sounds simple but it is far from easy or common. As a result he has vastly outperformed supposedly ‘better’ athletes,” said Tripp.
Almost three minutes faster than his original 5 kilometer attempt at Thetford, Warfield finished his final championship meet with a 16:59.9. This earned him second place, right behind his teammate, Cody Page.
“Warfield was like 10 seconds ahead of me the whole entire race, and he was in first up most of the race.” Page described how he claimed the victory, “About a K (kilometer) to go, I started to pick it up a little bit, and it started becoming a reality.”
Year after year, students head to Thetford aiming to improve their previous performance. Each returning runner arrive knowing the steps needed to navigate the course, and are now equipped with an additional year of experience to take up Morty’s Monster: the most difficult section of the championship course. Warfield had to take the same route as Page, as does every runner after them.
“You can celebrate each other’s accomplishments because you’re all challenged by the same course and conditions,” said John Morton, who designed the Thetford trail.
The former Olympian volunteered at the finish line of the 2025 championship meet, viewing his accomplishment in each exhausted runner crossing the finish.
“I just love seeing the athletes. I love the sport. If you work the finish line here, there are so many times you’ll see athletes from different competing teams, rivals, and the first thing they do when they come through is turn and shake each others’ hand,” said Morton. His eyes welled with tears, “you don’t see that in a lot of other sports. Sometimes it’s orchestrated, hockey players will line up. But this is special. They work hard, they train in obscurity, and this is a hard race course, but it’s a great example of sportsmanship.”
Obscurity is not for everyone in cross country, nor possible as practically everyone cheers each other on along the five kilometers. But how Tripp describes him, Warfield seems like he would push himself to the same limits with or without a crowd.
“Our program was always about ‘team first’, Ben has from day one bought into that philosophy. Ben is easy to like and gets along well with everyone.” Tripp continued describing Warfield as, “very quiet, practically silent, but per one of our team mottos, ‘he talks with his legs.’”
This nonverbal communication is important at energizing a team of athletes that know each others’ collective strength under a shared tent. Individual performance does not score the points needed to win championships, and this collaborative effort is baked into the Raiders’ strategy that has claimed repetitious championship titles.
“Our teams and the community we have built over the last 14 years are unique. Many of our kids run and train with us year round. This builds a uniquely tight knit community. This continuity and community in turn yield remarkable results both in human and ‘less importantly’ competitive terms,” said Tripp.
Warfield’s achievements on the course belong to him, but they are also the product of the people who help him coast. Years of training partners, mentors, and shared miles have shaped the way he competes, embedding their lessons into every stride. His progression is a reminder that success in cross country rarely comes from solitary effort - it grows out of the everyday commitment to a team.
Showing up for others and trusting that long-term work yields long-term results. Not every race is a breakthrough. It’s the discipline to return each day, even when the progress is invisible, that eventually carries a runner to the front.
“Yes we have won a ridiculous 43 state championships in my 13 years [as coach] but this is merely a by-product of our commitment to building community. Many people, even in our schools don’t believe it, but U-32 cross has shown that small town public school kids are no less capable of big things,” said Tripp.
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