Pushing through the heat, cramps and burning muscles, the cross country team races to the finish line. The team’s goal: beat their former best time.
This sport is very much team-oriented with cheering on teammates to reach their best times and practicing together through all types of weather, hot and cold. However, it’s just as much a solo sport with the athletes having to push themselves to their farthest limits.
The team has been practicing and preparing for this upcoming season by practicing in the summer mornings doing trail runs in the Eagle foothills, going on greenbelt runs and have some practices at Merril Park.
Now that school is back in session, they are training even harder.
“We do one long run to improve endurance, and a few times a week, we do race-paced runs to get us faster and prepared for our next meet,” said junior Johnny Culpepper. “When you take it seriously, but also have fun, that is what gets you through practices and ready for the next meet.”
Culpepper has been on the cross country team for three years now. He said that head coach Nick Hampton pushes people to be supportive and encourages the team to do their best. Culpepper explained that he hopes he can contribute to the team going to State and also hopes that everyone has consistent improvement all year.
The team had their first meet on Aug. 30 at Bishop Kelly High. Although the team didn’t do as well as they hoped, they have many meets to look forward to.
“The biggest meet in the nation is Woodbridge which is in California and the team has to qualify for this race,” said senior Savannah Flake. “The race takes place Sep. 19 and 20 that has thousands of people participating in the races as well people watching.”
Flake has been on the cross country team for all four years of her high school career and explained that the team is a very positive and welcoming community that she loves being a part of. She said that her personal goal for this year is to break 18 minutes in the three mile event.
The Eagle High cross country team has many goals and races ahead of them this year that they are eagerly working hard to achieve. To find information on their upcoming meets, check out the Eagle High website athletics calendar.
