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The morning echoes with the sound of a gunshot. Then they start, running up the hills and valleys as they will until the end.
“The race we had last week was Soldier Hollow, and I wanted to die,” said senior cross country runner Jared Strait, “ It was honestly the worst course I’ve ever ran.”
The whole NS cross country team ran it too, they trained hard, but it wasn’t what they expected at all.
“As we all know, it can be brutally tough with the hills,” said coach Bill Bedford, “We are trying to train specifically for that venue by adding hill work into the mix.”
The cross country team has had some interesting developments this year.
“We gained a bunch of girls this year,” said cross country runner Aubry Cook. “There used to be only a few, with more boys than girls. This year it’s the opposite.”
There are a total of 12 girls and 7 boys. The reason for this difference? Not gains by the girls; no, the reason was losses of the boys team. The boys team lost six seniors, and six other runners. A total of twelve losses for the boys team, including a small gain for the girls team.
The girls are set to do well this year.
“They won the pre-region meet without our top runner and have not lost to a 3A school to date,” Bedford said.“I predict they will go first or second at State. They work very hard and have great focus, all the makings for a successful cross country team.”
Another factor besides just numbers contributes to the team’s success. Mari Briggs, a freshman, has emerged as the top runner.
“She is insane. Like, I mean, insane,” Strait said, “She beat everyone, just absolutely swept the floor. She is on a whole other level.”
Besides just beating everyone on her own team, she has also taken first in one race, along with a third in the Timpanogos race, which are all 3A-5A races.
Despite challenging situations, the boys team is also doing well, with the top five varsity running sub nineteen minutes. There are some challenges they will have to overcome because three of the seven runners are new.
Although the new runners, (Tezra Fisk, Jerry Jones, and Thayne Smith), have proven themselves capable of running well, there are other challenges presented with new people on the team. Becoming a team, unified together.
“We learn to encourage each other on the team. With new people on the team, they always start out shy,” said Strait, “but throughout the season, our team has really grown together, and we’ve learned to push each other forward. That’s what every team needs, unity.”
To make this season even weirder, there are complications with the coronavirus.
“We have seen some very fun events cancelled due to coronavirus and also seen our invitationals make adjustments to accommodate the recommendations to keep the events safe,” said Bedford, “But these are not a big deal as long as we can still train, race, have fun and compete.”
