Cross country is facing a new challenge this year. Head Coach Fowler is no longer on campus, but that doesn’t stop two amazing assistant coaches from helping out. Everyone is working hard to improve their times and accomplish great things to prepare for the Metro championship.
The small amount of people joining is a big problem for the girls team this year. “I focus on coaching the girls, and it’s a building year. “We started when the team had one person this summer for girls, and now we’re up to six,” Coach Conner states. Not only is it hard to find people to join the team, but even more difficult to find people who have an interest in running. Coach Fowler mentions, “We also lack athletes who have been exposed early to the sport of distance running (meaning prior to 8th grade),” showing the difficulty the team is facing. A lot of people don’t know all the training and effort that goes into cross country, not just during the season, but over the summer. Sophomore runner Maria Ioannidis states, “The training was rough during the summer, but the end the results are more than worth the effort you put in.” Training during the summer is exceptionally intense, but the entire season has the team covering 35-50 miles in a single week.
An incredible thing about cross country is everyone’s amazing skill to work as a team. They not only pushing each other to do better, they also work on ways that will help the team get better. Runner Jordan Smith, a junior, talks about how he is going to help the team with motivation. Coach Fowler knows exactly how to help the team: “I will use more data-driven discussions to assist with goal-setting conversations with the athletes.”
The team is most looking forward to Districts, in the excitement of seeing their success and achievements as the season ends. We are halfway through the season, and looking forward to how the rest goes. Both Jordan Smith and Maria Ioannidis mention how they are looking forward to districts to not only see their own success but also the success of the team and what they will accomplish. It’s not going to be easy on the team with the new change and need for more people, but all the teammates are working incredibly hard this season. “Everyone who comes out works really hard every single practice. they listen to what we ask them to do, and they work really hard,” said Coach Conner, showing the push and power the team truly has for cross country.
