Cross Country reflects on end of season, personal growth

Penelope Roewe

The Cross Country season began at the beginning of the school year back in August, but most athletes began training in June during summer camp. This made for five consecutive months of practice difficult for athletes, not just physically, but mentally too. 

“There are some days where you just want to go home and you don’t want to go to practice at all,” junior Alexa Agrelo said. “After a long day of school, you’re definitely really tired and don’t feel like running six miles, but at some point, you can feel it, there’s a drive to do better and work harder.”

The coaches have also seen a lot of growth this season in individual athletes.

“I’ve been not surprised, but very pleased with the amount of improvement that I’ve seen in their three-mile times, two miles times are included in that too,” Boys Cross Country coach David Shafron said. “So that parts been good, but you can’t have the improvement of three-mile times without some of that emotional growth that comes with it.”

Cross Country trains six days a week, gaining strength through interval workouts or endurance by going on long runs, ranging from six to 12 miles. Meets are typically held on school fields, and each race spans about two to three miles, depending on skill level.

It’s no secret that Cross Country is seen by others as a difficult sport. But although Cross Country is quite the physically demanding sport, no matter your ability level, there’s room for improvement.

“It is challenging, but in a rewarding sense, I think until you run a Cross Country race and experienced the feeling of crossing that finish line, or you feel for the first time like what it’s like beating your personal best, those are just kind of indescribable feelings,” senior Grant Olson said. “But the desire to get to those points to beat your previous time– it’s just something to work toward.”

Cross Country is a sport for anyone, and the coaches encourage you to try it. 

“Cross Country is a sport where it’s like, whatever ability level you’ve got, there’s a spot for you. And there’s different levels, different distances,” Girls’ Cross Country coach Andrew Swedberg said. “It’s not as scary as you think. So I would encourage any student-athlete that wants to come out and try it, to give it a try next year.”

While growth is a huge aspect of Cross Country, team dynamic trumps all.

“There was a day where we were just having a lot of fun at a meet. The guys were laughing, were telling kind of funny stories,” Shafron said. “And I stopped them, I said, ‘Look, what’s going on right now.’ I said, ‘If you were to go and tell your classmates and your friends why you joined Cross Country, and if you were to tell them what you were doing at a meet, you couldn’t articulate what we’re doing right now… It’s really hard to explain why this is a fun sport, but it just is.”

“I definitely feel like [my motivation for running] is cheesy, but the team,” Agrelo said. “The team is really a big motivator, and you feel like doing better for each other and [you] push each other.”