For this year’s cross country team, there were several newcomers to the team which benefited both individuals, along with the team, in various ways. One newcomer to the cross country team was sophomore Josephine Gowen.
“Honestly I didn’t even think I would go to state let alone be on varsity at the beginning of the season so I really had no goals for myself, I did it just so I could stay in shape until I realized I could actually run better than I expected,” Gowen said.
The newcomers didn’t really know what they were up for until the season started and they got into the flow of things.
“The season went very well. Our team for girls placed top two out of almost all of the meets and so did the boys, and for our combined score for Boone Central we won overall, so that was very good for us,” Gowen said.
The cross country team was consistent with scoring runner-up at each of their meets. To prepare for the season, many runners run over the summer in order to get in shape before the cross country season starts.
“I definitely improved from last year I put more training in during the summer last summer I put in about 15 miles as for this summer I put in 165 miles so I would say putting in the work I definitely went hard on that which helped me improve a lot for this season,” junior Marvelous Robinson said.
The cross country team is constantly training all year round to stay in shape for the season and to be prepared for future races.
“During the middle of the season we had a loss which brought us down which pushed us to run even better but other than that the season was fun and we are definitely all more enthusiastic and energetic this year and we are all happy to know we are a better team,” Marv Robinson said.
The teams atmosphere this year is very optimistic which results in making cross country practice and races more enjoyable for the team.
“At districts we got second as a team so it was pretty solid, I got second individually which was good due to me racing the state champ at districts so it was a hard fight there due to me getting outkicked at the line which was tragic but other than that it was great,” junior, Austin Carrera said.
The tigers competed at districts at Overton golf course versus Lexington. Both the boys and girls finished 2nd overall as a team. This then lead the tigers to the NSAA state meet.
On Friday, October 20, the tigers both boys and girls cross country team competed in the NSAA varsity state tournament in Kearney. The Tigers competed at districts the week before, on October 11, to see who would all compete at state. The individuals on the team had to race and place top 20 in order to compete at state.
“I was dealing with some injuries last year and I did not finish the season how I wanted to but the whole season I was running pretty well as well as the team, we were winning meets and running to the best of our ability all season,” junior Austin Carrera said.
The tiger cross country team has faced tons of adversity this season, but they managed to make it through the season by placing 4th out of 12 teams for boys; and 6th out of 12 teams for girls.
