Fall sports are back in session which means the girls and boys cross country has started up their season for the 2024-2025 school year. Both teams had their first meet on Aug. 31, where they competed in the Crosstown Classic, a race they do yearly against Niles North. This year, like the last, was a successful one where boys’ and girls’ cross country teams were able to keep their trophy another year.
Girls cross country coach and physical education teacher Anne Heselton is looking forward to the upcoming season and the new incoming runners. Heselton knows it can be hard getting used to being back in school but is happy with the outcome of the first meet.
“Returning and new athletes ran very well. The majority of the team ran personal bests for the two-mile course. The first three weeks of the season is always hard, students are getting used to being back in school all day and practicing six days a week. We do have some talented newcomers on our team and I’m looking forward to seeing how they combine with our returning athletes. For this season we would like to improve our overall team place at the CSL conference meet and qualify for sectionals. We feel good about the victory but North is usually not a focus for us,” Heselton said.
This year, team captain senior Lena Schultz has been training with her team in preparation for this meet and the rest of the season. Although both teams came out on top there are still many things Schultz wants her teams to work on in hopes of improving even more.
“The first meet went well, it was great to see all the girls who hadn’t run before competing and encouraging each other. The Varsity group has been training since the beginning of June and it was great to see the improvements in our times from time trials to our first actual competition. As a team, I do want us to work on being consistent and using each other as motivation,” Shultz said.
While there are things the team wants to improve and work on there are many things the team did well. Shultz acknowledges all the hard work and improvement from when they started at the beginning of June.
“For the varsity group we have been training since the beginning of June and it was great to see improvements in our times from the trials to our first actual competition. It’s great we won the meet again, it is rewarding knowing our hard work has paid off. Something specific we’ve done that stands out to me is a lot more positive self-talk and encouragement. The entire team spends a lot of time together and were all good friends, so we all just motivate each other to do our best,” Shultz said.
Senior Isshaq Yousfi on the varsity boys cross-country team is proud of the team’s win and is excited to keep the trophy another year. The team continued to work through the summer and their win shows that their work paid off on starting the season off strong with a big win.
“The first meet of the cross country season was absolutely splendid, a lot of the boys came out and finished with big PRs [personal records], and we absolutely smoked North again this year. It was really nice to win the trophy for yet another season and it shows our hard work continues to pay off year after year,” Yousfi said.
We wish both the girls’ and boys’ cross country teams luck on their next meet on Sep. 7 and for the rest of their season.
