By Rachel Dinh
While most people were probably still sleeping in the morning, members of TPA Junior High Cross Country team were running their hardest and beating personal records at the Middle School Championship Meet. The boys race started at 9 a.m.and Coach Granville advised the TPA girls team to spread out along the 2-mile course and cheer them on.
When it was 9:30 and time for the girls to run, the boys did the same for the girls. The cheering certainly helped both teams push boundaries and sprint the last stretch (even when they looked as if they would pass out). During the final mile, one TPA girl started staggering because of her injured knee. Three TPA boys who had finished their race earlier saw her limping. They started yelling encouragement and running beside her, getting louder as she approached the finish line. One onlooker even said, “Now that’s true teamwork.”
Zack McIntyre, who got 19th place and also does triathlons in his spare time, talks about his time on the course: “I felt pretty good. I got a personal best time! What kept me going when I felt like stopping was the will to win.” Zack beat his previous record of 13 minutes and 16 seconds for 2 miles.
“I felt like I was going to die. But I pushed myself harder because I saw the finish line ahead of me,” says eighth grader Oliver Ricken.
Allison Youngs finished first out of the TPA girls team and improved her time along the way. She says, “Running felt fun and tiring at the same time. I was distracting myself by thinking of songs. I was also really worried about Mary Elias, because she was breathing so hard when I ran past her.” Mary had had some trouble on the course because of her asthma and because she was still recovering from being sick the past week. Mary says, “The race was long and hard. I felt tired and very sick to my stomach at the end. Everyone’s cheering helped me finish.”
There’s no denying the admirable effort given by the whole team and this championship meet was a great conclusion to the season. Coach Granville says, “It was a good season and those who came to all of the practices saw a lot of improvement.” Those early morning Saturday practices must have paid off. As always, work works!
