The cross country season is underway with their first meets already behind them, and both the Boys and Girls teams have been training hard since summer to dominate this year.
The first meet was the Saddleback Cup at Trabuco Hills High School on Aug. 30, and it featured a two mile run. The following weekend, the teams had their next meet at the Dana Hills invitational.
The top three runners from our school during the Saddleback Cup were Karson Brunke (12) with a time of 9:33.9 minutes; Parker McAdam (12) at 9:42.2; and Edward Hocking (12) at 9:52.5.
The next meet coming up is the Annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic at Great Park in Irvine, and it is taking place on Aug. 19-20. Their schedule continues similarly with the teams participating in meets almost weekly.
This season, both teams will be competing in the Seaview League preceding the CIF finals.
Both teams have seen some changes which give the head coaches, Coach Colwell for the Girls’ team and Coach Walsh for the Boys’, some extra hope for this year.
Notably, Coach Walsh has mentioned that since the Covid pandemic, the numbers of runners have risen. The increase in numbers has brought excited newcomers that are, through their enthusiasm, raising motivation and morale.
Coach Walsh notes “We have some that are coming in that are really raring to go, and that’s exciting. For the last couple of years, it’s been a little bit of a struggle [to maintain encouragement].”
Coach Colwell has noted that there are more seniors on the Girls’ team this year who are experienced leaders. Together, they help push the team and facilitate improvement.
Both teams have expressed a unanimous goal to move into CIF finals to eventually enter the State finals; however, they have also expressed the importance of self improvement within the team, as achieving personal goals is as important to the coaches as winning competitions.
Hocking, a senior runner on the varsity team, explains how he plans to reach his goal of getting a time of less than 15 minutes for a three-mile run. He said, “I’ll push both myself and my teammates through the love of the sport, because I think one thing that’ll make you run faster, no matter what, is if you have a positive mindset.”
Hocking is looking forward to the new season to achieve his goals and run with his friends, reflecting the connection of the athletes participating in cross country and their motivation to run harder than ever.
