Fall is the season of Halloween, bright red and orange leaves and, most importantly, sports. Crew, soccer, tennis, football, and even golf are played during the fall season, but one sport is cast away in the shadows: cross country, whose team only had five members last year and barely made the minimum for competition.
Cross country is an independent yet team driven sport. Unlike its more popular counterpart, track, the scoring isn’t solely based on the top three finishers. Cross country relies on the performance of the first five finishers on the team, seeing what places each of them got and adding them together to see how many points the team receives.
Every XC course is different, giving runners new obstacles each meet. Some courses take runners through fields, some on sidewalks; some have huge steep hills to climb, and others have one or two ups and downs. It is a physical, and mental challenge to get through each course. The interesting and beautiful scenery around a runner, like a course lined with trees or a race at sunset, helps a lot with getting through the race.
If a runner is having trouble motivating themself or keeping a growth mindset during races and practices, at SCH there are many amazing coaches and teammates to look to for help and guidance during the season.
Lauren Wilson, XC’s team captain for two years said, “We all like, bond and we get really close even as the teams change over the years, so if you’re looking for any sets of community while also getting in shape getting exercise or just like go run and have fun.”
During each practice, teammates motivate each other to keep on pushing forward even when it’s tough. SCH’s XC team also participates in team building activities, which just makes the sport all the more enjoyable.
Corrine Dionne, SCH’s XC coach for the past eleven years said, “I also do like a team playlist where everybody on the team likes to add their music and we listen to our team’s favorite songs every practice while we’re stretching, so I really try to incorporate ways to make the team feel like a home for my athletes.”
Teammates also support each other by running alongside each other during races.
Dionne added, “It’s kind of like an organic way to pair girls up who are running a similar pace to help push each other and help use their teammate to know what pace that they’re running and where they should be at within the race.”
Imagine this: you are on your usual run around Chestnut Hill during practice, you just flunked your math quiz, and are having a bit of a bad day. Then your teammate starts up a conversation, effectively taking your mind off the quiz, clearing your head and cheering you up in the process. Just communicating with your teammates makes the sport all the more fun.
Even when running with people from other schools, who are supposed to be competition, will occasionally, completely out of breath in the middle of a race, say a quick “You’re doing great!”
In a conversation with this reporter, Dionne added, “I appreciate you highlighting our sport that usually doesn’t get a lot of attention, because unfortunately we don’t have competitions on campus. The sport and the athletes definitely should be recognized for, you know, challenging themselves.”
Cross country is truly a wonderful sport and has benefited many students at SCH. By reading this article, I hope more people consider trying it in Upper School.
