Cross Country is a sport of patience. Clocking in at around forty to fifty minutes, competitions are three miles long. Running cross country takes endurance and self-discipline. There are no short-cuts and competitions are judged based on team effort. No single person gets first place. Although they work as a team, each individual runs on their own motivation.

For sophomore, Zachary Richards, having and keeping that motivation is important. Richards started running cross country when he was in 7th grade. Over the past 4 fours of running cross-country, Richards has found his motivation.

“Just the fact that you have so much freedom in running, you can run as fast as you want or as slow as you want. You can go anywhere you want unlike a track where you go around in circles,” said Richards.

Cross Country takes hours of practice as well as steadfast dedication. During the season, the cross country team has a total of seven meets, not including district, regional, and state meets. Cross Country Coach, Lauren Jones, explains how the runners train in order to come to the meets prepared.

“I think they’ve gotten off to a really good start. Each athlete does P.R.E. (progressive resistance exercise) week to week so we’ll be ready for district. We come in the mornings before school. We have long distance run, we have tempo runs, and we have shorter sprint runs to prepare for meets,” said Coach Jones.

Since cross country rely on lower body strength, it’s no surprise that they do leg workouts. Sophomore, Ian Martinez, explains that these exercises go way beyond a few leg warm ups.

“We sometimes do yoga and even lift weights with our legs, but we don’t always run everyday,” said Martinez.

Richards doesn’t worry too much about the training. He’s focused more the experiences he gets to have with his fellow runners.

“Meeting so many people who are so engaged in the sport and helping them get better is what I like best about the sport,” said Richards.

Since Cross Country isn’t a solo sport schools win or lose as a team. Someone may finish the race first, but their team may finish second. therefore every individual is a valuable part of the team.