Cross Country is just beginning, which means there will be another opportunity to snag the TVL League Title. Over this past summer, we have gained an excellent roster of runners on the team. The amount of talent shown and hard work put in this summer has led to us having a great chance to grab the league title.
As soon as summer begins, Cross Country members start to run. Summer mileage is a major rule to making you fast and become a top runner on the team. The amount of athletes who strive to reach mileage goals is what gives our team a chance of winning. It’s as some coaches say, the winners are decided by who puts in the most effort into summer training.
Mr. Bernard is an Anatomy, Sports Medicine, and AP Biology teacher as well as a Coach of both the Cross Country and Track & Field teams. When asked about the teams standings, he replied, “Both are well, girls are considered a favorite to win TVL, having a good chance to qualify for the state championship. The boys are very even with Ripon, but both ourselves and Ripon are better than the other teams in the league.” From his point of view about the team’s goals, Bernard’s input included, “The goal is always for athletes to improve throughout the season. And, I think each year is a little different for what is possible and what goals you set.”
Bernard went on to say, “The times the girls are running will make them very competitive, on the boys side it is uncertain. That’s the thing about competition, sometimes you could have a great team but run into a buzz saw because of tough teams in the section. I think it’s important to bear in mind that the boys’ side is very competitive this year, the section is strong.”
Alejandra Gonzalez, a senior and captain of the Cross Country team, gave her input on how she intends to help the team improve altogether. She said, “Since I’m a senior now and I’ve learned a lot of stuff throughout my seasons, I feel like I have a better sense of a lot of things that our underclassmen don’t understand completely yet, like pacing, which is something I think I excel in. And I’d like to be the leader that my old upperclassmen were for me. I think a lot of our underclassmen just need someone to kind of guide them in a way that our coach can’t, and I want to be that kind of guidance figure for them.”
Adrian Andrade is a senior who participates in Cross Country, Soccer, and Track & Field. As a captain on the Cross Country team, he gave us his input on how he will help push the team to perform at their best. He stated, “I still want to encourage my team as much as I can and push them to be better than the day and meet before. If they are feeling down or doubt themselves because of a bad workout or bad race, I want to be supportive and helpful.”
This Wednesday, the Huskies will participate in the first TVL League meet in Ripon.