The UHSSE Cross Country team has just started up their season and is already doing incredibly well. We have had three meets so far this season, with many runners running new personal records. During our last meet, at Northwest Park, Jethro Ehrlich and Nathan Clark placed 3rd and 4th. Clark set a personal record, being the 3rd freshman our team has ever had to break 20 minutes. At a previous meet, Ehrlich broke the school record for boys by over a minute with a time of 16:43. This upcoming week, we have two meets: one this Tuesday at Stanley Quarter and an Invitational meet on Friday. On Friday, we will be running at the 13th Harry Geraghty Invitational at Nevers Park. All of our runners have been training hard and are looking forward to racing.
As the season starts, all of our runners have been setting goals for themselves. Whether it be a time, placement, or school record, they have been training hard and pushing themselves to achieve them. “My goal for this season is to run for fun. For the past season, I kinda started to lose my love for the sport but, coming back, I’ve been feeling a lot happier with it. I also want to run sub 27! Maybe even sub 26,” said Jayla Darrel ‘25. We have many new runners this year, with a team mostly composed of freshmen. Along with learning how to train and pace, runners are finding a passion in this sport. With so many new runners, you can see the talent that will continue to drive our team in the seasons to come.
After having so many of our runners graduate last year, it’s been amazing to see our team grow. Even though it’s an individual sport where you are the only one that can push yourself and it’s up to you to improve, it’s a sport where it can be incredible to have a team. Even when you’re racing against each other, you support each other, whether it be someone from your team or another. “My favorite part of cross country is the community it has. You get so close to a bunch of your teammates and other league runners,” said William Pape ‘27. Getting to run in so many meets, including invitationals, and meeting runners from so many different schools, really gives you a feel for how it’s still a team sport. When you’re at the start line you could be right next to the runners you want to pass, but still wishing them luck. You experience the same race, nerves, and strain during that race and that ties you together. “My favorite thing about cross country is how supportive everyone is. Everyone is friendly, no matter how fast you run or what place you end in. I’ve never seen a sport so supportive,” said Darrel ‘25.
As the season continues, we are excited for our upcoming meets and to see how all of our new runners do. Here’s hoping for a great season!
