It was a solid season for cross country, with a respectable finish of 8th place at State as a team, and had a good showing at districts. However, large parts of what makes cross country great is the culture and the individual improvements made.

For most people, cross country doesn’t seem like the most appealing sport. With a bit of a joke being that other people’s punishment is their entire sport. But it’s the community that comes from it that makes the sport different. “[The culture is] very welcoming, everyone’s really nice, not any mean cross country kids, everyone’s going through the same struggles, sometimes got to make sure the freshman do what they need to do, sometimes pace them to help them get better times, and act as a leader,” said senior Tristan Hamilton.

Another differentiating factor about cross country is it is largely, and from the outside looking in can even seem entirely like an individual sport. But that culture is a part of the sport also, and helping each runner reach their potential. “Definitely my team, a good part of cross country and don’t think I would be half as good if I didn’t have people there to support and help in my development.” junior Brady Grant confidently assured.

A fair share of the culture, like most sports, is provided by upperclassmen athletes, especially the seniors. A few of those runners are the aforementioned Hamilton and fellow student-athlete Jake Dougall; and Grant is hoping to step into a similar role in the future. “They had a large impact, being a core part of the team, motivating people to be the best personal being of themselves,” Grant shared. “They’re big shoes to fill, and I hope I can provide help for all the underclassmen next year.”

Grant has high hopes for next fall as well. Individually, some of his goals include continuing to improve at his pacing of races, reaching sub-15 minutes on his 5K time, and maybe breaking into the school all-time top 10 times in the 5K. And as a team, he believes they can keep moving forward. “I think it’ll be a good year, we got a young team and have been rising up, hope we can place well.”