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This year’s NS cross country team has performed well, despite losing many seniors. Even with a smaller team, they are still breaking records.
Senior Tezra Fisk broke the school’s 3-mile record previously held by Bryce Carr at pre-region invitational and the school’s 5k record previously held by Matt Hindes at the Bob Firman invitational.
“I’m kinda just there to run,” said Fisk.
This was a huge accomplishment for him and the team. The new record is 15.59. Fisk is co-captain with senior Ryland Cook. Senior Madelyn Christensen is the top varsity runner for the girls’ team.
“Madelyn is by far our strongest runner,” senior Tylee Henrie said. “She is good.”
But even with these strong athletes the team may struggle this year due to the team’s small size. They have hopes of performing well at region but are unsure about state.
“If we run a good race at region we might have a chance,” said Christensen
Cross country athletes compete by running a 5k course on varied terrain that includes up and downhill sections. Some of these courses can be very difficult and wind, heat, or rain can greatly affect the performance of the runners. NS’s home course is run on the Skyline golf course.
The team knows what perseverance is. It takes real persistence and a well-trained mind to perform efficiently in their sport.
“Some may see their interest in running and racing may seem strange,” said cross country coach Bill Bedford, “but really, they are not that different from athletes in other sports, or high school students in general. Everyone has talents and interests; theirs just happens to be distance running.”
These runners take pride in pushing themselves to the limit of physical endurance and find joy in achieving personal goals that seem unattainable. It takes a lot of practice, persistence, and self-discipline to perform at the highest level in cross country.
“[Cross country] has had a very positive impact on my life, it has helped me look at the positive more and it helped my work ethic a lot by making me do hard things by myself.” said Cook.
The daily practice consists of running up to 5 miles in the heat or rain. Athletes also must strive to stay in shape during the off season. Many athletes give up soda and energy drinks to do so.
“Sophmore year I finally stopped with sodas and energy drinks,” said Cook, “which was really hard, because most people are really used to that.”
There are, however, a lot of positives to participating in the sport too. Cross country athletes learn self-discipline and hard work that can easily be applied in any situation.
“Hard work leads to success, no matter how you define it,” said Bedford.
There is also the great sense of pride that comes when they complete a goal, finish a tough race or practice and knowing that they didn’t give up.
“My favorite thing about coaching,” Bedford said, “is probably seeing them meet goals and experiencing the satisfaction of a job well done.”
Coach Bedford is another inspiration for his team. He enjoys pushing them towards their goals and watching them achieve them.
“My sophomore year,” said Fisk, “when I moved here, is when I really started getting into XC again, the coach and the teammates were great, it was a better environment, I could tell the coach cared and the teammates brought me in and I started to enjoy it.”
Teamwork is another huge part of XC. Although the athletes perform individually, they help push each other to perform to the best of their ability in both practice and during races. Due to their smaller size, the boys and girls on the team have created a special bond and strive to encourage each other.
“I become motivated by helping the team feel happy and accomplished,” said Cook.
