On August 26, the Boys and Girls Cross Country teams ran in their only home meet against a variety of schools. Many of these schools are the same ones that the teams will see later on in the season, such as Valporasio and Portage, so the race provided an opportunity to see where they stand against rival schools. Many of the athletes did better than they were expecting despite it being an overcast day.
“I wanted a cane for my last home meet, so that was my goal. I wanted to be in the top three. [My time] was definitely not expected. I haven’t been doing as well as I normally have been this season, so I definitely was not expecting to break the 20s that day. That Friday night before the meet, I got more sleep than I had been, and that helped me a lot,” Addison Roth (12) said.
Though she did not get a cane, Roth had a fifth place finish for the race and helped her team to a second place finish behind Valporasio. The boys’ team had a similar strong finish, but they came out in first and had Ben Perschon (9), who broke 16 minutes and the sophomore record, in second place overall. Many agree that, with the race being on their home course, the Rudy Skorupa Invite is easier than other races because the team can create a game-plan for the race and they already know what it feels like to run the course.
“Racing on the home course is special to me because it’s where we train almost every day. We all know the topography of the course and where to drop the hammer. Going forward, I hope to win at least one race, even if it is a JV race, and I want to be under 17 minutes at some point this season,” Patrick Ryan (11) said.
Despite it being early in the season, both the athletes and the coaches are looking towards the post season and what the future will bring. Seeing their times can give the athletes an idea of where they stand and let the coaches know what they need to work towards.
“Right now, I think we are one of the top teams in the region. We have big aspirations at the state level for this team,” Jeffrey Rhody, science, said.
