Last Saturday, the boys and girls cross-country teams competed in their first meet of the season, the Jacob Graf Memorial Invite. The Boys Head Coach Cole Jackson gave insight into the team going into the meet.
“For having so many first-time runners, I thought we did extremely well,” Jackson said. “I was caught off guard by how well so many of them did, especially, like I said, because it is not necessarily a young team but an inexperienced one, so I was pleased with it.”
Some of Jackson’s expectations for the meet were that they would go out quickly, but he was surprised that not all of them did that.
“Halfway through the meet it became apparent a lot more of them were behaving in a way that was typical of people that have done it for a lot longer,” Jackson said. “So, I was pleasantly surprised with how well they did.”
The team has gone from new faces to a family.
“They’ve gone from a lot of people new to the sport and uncomfortable with maybe the workout regimen to becoming more of a unit. They laugh, joke and pal around with each other, and they show up knowing what’s expected and able to meet those expectations they’ve done very well,” Jackson said.
Jackson has high expectations for the remainder of the season.
“I expect that we’ll have good days and bad days, but that we’ll be positive and hard-working, and that we’ll work towards the times they want and their goals that they reach for and we’ll do it together,” Jackson said.
Cross-country runner Miguel Zarate, junior, shed some light on his progression thus far in this season.
“I haven’t lost any endurance from the previous season, which is a good thing,” Zarate said. “I’m just trying to expand on what I already had.”
Overall, Zarate was happy with his performance at the Jacob Graf meet.
“I think I did pretty well with what I was given,” Zarate said.
Senior Ashley Murillo says that the girls cross-country team did pretty well at their first meet of the season.
“Honestly, the results that came out were the ones I was expecting to be honest,” Murillo said. “We did pretty good as a team. We all did great for our first meet.”
Murillo said that her season is going pretty well so far.
“Our course is really hard, so I’d say it’s going pretty well for everyone. I think as the season goes on everybody is going to continue to grow.” Murillo said.
Girls Head Coach Kailin Bauman discussed how her girls cross-country team is doing so far this season.
“I think this team is dedicated and excited to grow and progress,” Bauman said. “It’s a hard-working and supportive group. We placed much better overall this year at the Graf Invitational, which I think shows. this group growth as a team.”
Bauman has confidence about what her runners will do during this season.
“I have no doubt we will see several minutes come off most, if not all, race times as we continue to dial in workouts, race efforts, and the weather cooperates,” Bauman said
Bauman believes the team did well at the first meet of the season.
“I think, overall, there’s more fitness and ability in this team than the times reflected,” Bauman said. “With the first meet, we still have to dial in our efforts, and I’m pleased with the effort. But with a little more strategy, the race times will better reflect the fitness of this team.”
