Although the season has come to a rapid end, the cross country team has worked hard to get to this point. The team has been diligently working all season to meet their goals and lower their times. At every meet, the runners have pushed themselves to see improvements and work toward their goals.
On Oct. 1, the team competed in a meet against Beaver County Christian High School. During this meet, Noah Chaousy (11) placed sixth in the male bracket, Wyatt Miller (9) placed 11th, Cooper Brien (9) placed 10th, Gregory Kline (9) placed 12th and Hannah Shaffer (11) placed 18th in the female bracket.
On Oct. 9 the team also competed in the MAC invitational at Brush Creek Park. At this meet, Chaousy placed 80th in the male bracket, Miller placed 112nd, Brien placed 111th, Kline placed 114th and Shaffer placed 96th in the female bracket. The MAC Invitational is an important meet for runners, as it gives them an accurate prediction of how they will place at the WPIAL meet. All local competitors participate in the MAC Invitational. It also gives runners a good opportunity to compete in a larger meet before the WPIAL competition.
In cross country, all runners have the opportunity to compete in the WPIAL competition. During this competition, the top teams and individual runners will advance to the state competition. The WPIAL meet is on Oct. 24 and will be held at White Oak Park.
This season, the team spent a lot of time trying to improve smaller things that will help lower their times. One thing that the team has been working on is strength training. Running requires the use of many muscles in your legs and arms, making it important to try various workouts. Another thing that has helped the team is focusing on their form. Form is vital when running; it helps give the runners momentum while saving energy. This is something that all runners have had to improve this season; however, with practice, they have all seen improvements in their form and their times.
“We are seeing our athletes break bad habits, which help them throughout the race,” Coach Ms. Miranda Santa said.
While this season is coming to an end, the runners were all able to improve their times and make other improvements to their running. This year, the team focused on improving their individual skills and times. They are also optimistic about having an official team next year. They learned valuable skills, which they can use throughout their cross country career. Overall, they felt good about the season and were able to share positive experiences with their teammates.
“The entire team has improved a lot since the beginning of the season, we have gotten better at every meet,” Brien said.