By Cameron Hill
You’re sweating profusely. Every muscle in your body is sore. You’re extremely tired but you just have to keep running and think of something else other than your feet hitting the ground. Sometimes you just don’t think at all and just let instinct take over. Finally you see the finish line. A great feeling of relief floods through you and you can finally get some water and much-needed rest. That is how it feels to run a cross country race.
However unappealing this may sound to some, others excel at the challenges of long distance running. This cross country team is lucky to have a group of excellent runners. Two standouts have been Junior Kylie Klassen and Sophomore Zack McIntyre.
Zack and Kylie have very different reasons why they do cross country. Zack cited “self-improvement and staying fit” as his main motivations for running while Kylie said she does cross country to “escape from daily activities and stress.” These are examples of the variety of reasons you might want to run cross country.
Kylie and Zack also offered some ways to excel in cross country. Kylie stated that: “It’s extremely important to have a good mental capacity in order to run. The mind is the most powerful [tool] in cross country.” She later added, “You have to believe you can keep going in order to keep going.”
Zack echoed this sentiment when he said, “The most important part of long-distance running is to just keep going.” This advice of just keep going is not only great advice for runners but just great advice in life.
The two runners also offered some insight into what goes through their head during a race. Zack said that during a race he’s “just thinking about keeping a steady pace. ”Kylie stated that “most of the time I’m not thinking at all besides ‘I want Water’ or ‘My legs hurt,’” and she later said she also thinks “‘You gotta beat her’ about whoever the girl in front of me is.” It was great to get an insight into what these runners think during these long races.
Onto some of the tangible results of the team’s hard work. At their first meet at Valley Lutheran on Sept. 4, the Lady Knights achieved a top 8 finish fueled by strong performances by freshman Samantha Sayer and junior Hannah Matsumoto. At their Sept. 18 meet at Kiwanis Park, Zack McIntyre finished 19th out of 149 male runners while Kylie Klassen led the girls team to another top 8 performance by finishing 19th out of over 100 female runners. Zack was able to complete a personal record of 18 minutes and 54 seconds in the 5000 meters.
Overall, the Knights have had a great season so far and are looking to continue to improve. With strong runners like the ones in this article and more, Tempe Prep Cross Country should have no problems getting even more great results.
Middle School Cross Country Improving Quickly
Imagine you are not an experienced runner yet and you are told to go and run 1.8 or 2 miles as fast as you can. That might sound a little scary but many of the members of the middle school cross country team are young and relatively inexperienced. However, they are all greatly improving their running times despite their limited experience.
Coach Arana said that one thing hindering the team is that “The cross country season is very short and we have a limited number of practice days,” and “when one of the athletes gets sick or has other commitments they end up missing practices and they lose fitness.” Even with the limited practice time, all the runners on the team have greatly improved.
Most of the runners on the team have improved their time by 1 or 2 minutes since the beginning of the season, which is incredible. Coach Arana has attributed some of this improvement to how the team has come together. Coach Arana goes on to say, “They are very supportive and encouraging of each other which is lovely to see and hear.” That type of encouragement is something all TPA athletics should show every day.
The middle school team has already improved greatly and with 3-4 meets still left they can only go up from here.