Cross country is an individual sport with a team atmosphere. Runners are based on their personal time, but together they are evaluated on a team point-scoring system. Even though they run separately, the BSM cross-country team has become a very close group.
This year, the cross-country team has been off to a quicker start than usual. Their positivity toward one another and hard work at practice have led to this. “We all work together and cheer each other on, and even though it’s an individual sport, we really work together as a team and show our pride for our school and each other throughout the races and practices,” senior captain Anna Amaris said.
Although Cross Country is an individual running sport, the team still runs together and spends time at practice with each other. Lots of members have made a variety of different friends from being a part of this team. “Close friendships and cliques don’t really affect our team, because everybody’s really friendly and inclusive,” sophomore runner Jun Vang said.
Close friendships and cliques don’t really affect our team, because everybody’s really friendly and inclusive.”
— Jun Vang
The team spends a lot of time with each other, between their everyday practices and meets once a week. Cross Country does lots of team bonding activities, such as their trip to Sioux Falls earlier this fall, that helped make their team chemistry really strong. “I would say my favorite memory was probably our overnight trip to Sioux Falls because that was just really fun and was a great way to get to know the team,” Amaris said.
Along with the overnight trip to Sioux Falls, they also do other bonding activities closer to home. One of the team’s favorite out-of-school activities is team pasta parties. “The night before meets we have pasta parties at one of the captains’ houses which helps bring us closer together as a team before the meet,” Amaris said.
The sport has its ups and downs as well. One of the downsides of cross country is the amount of running the team has to complete at practice, along with the length of the meets. Although it can be a lot of training to prepare for the long meets, the team always finds a way to make it fun.“My favorite part is being with the team at the meets and cheering each other on,” sophomore Katie Kroft said.