Excitement and challenge is in the air for the Cross Country team this season thanks to all the hype coming from the teams’ preseason. To prepare for the meets to come this year, the team has been “doing the same solid workouts they’ve always done” said senior John Tolbert. There’s also a lot of hype coming from the “supportiveness of everyone on the team,” said senior Brendan O’Connell. The team is well knit and contains many assets in every grade.

During the summer months “my teammates have been getting daily runs in since July, this has helped tremendously to build the strength of the team,” said O’Connell. This surplus of training will hopefully help the team get to regionals and possibly nationals.

One important aspect of the team is the returning seniors. There are five returning seniors that are ranked in the top 30 of the state. “Our team is very well rounded and solid due to the fact that we have an ‘older’ team” explained senior Dustin Jutras.

The depth of the team also creates a stronger one throughout. Having younger runners on the team will bring hope and wins for the future. “The underclassman are good and the JV team is solid,” Tolbert said.

Jutras, O’Connell, and Tolbert agreed that Chantilly is the Cross Country teams’ biggest competitor. “Chantilly has a lot of depth and talented runners on their team,” Tolbert exclaims. “They [Chantilly] has been running the fastest in the preseason and looked very strong,” O’Connell explains. Hopefully the team will use their assets to dominate over their biggest competitors.

Another team to look out for in the races this season is Osbourn Park who have the number one and two runners in the state on their team.

Winning states is definitely in the cards for the Cross Country team. “We just need to stay focused and perform well on important days,” says Tolbert.