Courtesy of BSM Girls Cross Country Instagram

The girls ‘XC team celebrates their first race of the 2023 season.

 

Cross country is an individual sport with a team atmosphere. Runners are based on their personal time, but together they are evaluated on a team point-scoring system. Even though they run separately, the BSM cross-country team has become a very close group.

This year, the cross-country team has been off to a quicker start than usual. Their positivity toward one another and hard work at practice have led to this. “We all work together and cheer each other on, and even though it’s an individual sport, we really work together as a team and show our pride for our school and each other throughout the races and practices,” senior captain Anna Amaris said.

Although Cross Country is an individual running sport, the team still runs together and spends time at practice with each other. Lots of members have made a variety of different friends from being a part of this team. “Close friendships and cliques don’t really affect our team, because everybody’s really friendly and inclusive,” sophomore runner Jun Vang said.

The team spends a lot of time with each other, between their everyday practices and meets once a week. Cross Country does lots of team bonding activities, such as their trip to Sioux Falls earlier this fall, that helped make their team chemistry really strong. “I would say my favorite memory was probably our overnight trip to Sioux Falls because that was just really fun and was a great way to get to know the team,” Amaris said.

Along with the overnight trip to Sioux Falls, they also do other bonding activities closer to home. One of the team’s favorite out-of-school activities is team pasta parties. “The night before meets we have pasta parties at one of the captains’ houses which helps bring us closer together as a team before the meet,” Amaris said.

The sport has its ups and downs as well. One of the downsides of cross country is the amount of running the team has to complete at practice, along with the length of the meets. Although it can be a lot of training to prepare for the long meets, the team always finds a way to make it fun.“My favorite part is being with the team at the meets and cheering each other on,” sophomore Katie Kroft said.

Courtesy of BSM Girls Cross Country Instagram

The girls’ XC team rallies before their first race of the 2023 season.

Placing 13th at state last year, the girls cross country team has been working hard so far this season. They have big goals set in hopes to live up to the high expectations they have after such a successful season.

Head Coach and senior high gym teacher, Casey Hanson, plays a large role in the team’s success, yet he really gives all the credit to last year’s runners. “Last year, we had a large group of people training over the summer before going into the season. We then knew that we had the talents and the potential and that group of kids put in the work. We trained all summer long together. Everything gelled and worked correctly last year,” Hanson said.

Along with the running itself, this team has a great bond and they work extremely well together, which is a crucial part of a successful team. “[The] general team dynamic is very strong. Everyone likes each other on the team and the seniors are super helpful. On the girls team, it [feels] like a big sister type of vibe with the middle schoolers all the way up to the seniors,” junior runner Charlize Vang said.

Coming off of an amazing 2022 season, this year’s standards are high. Coach Hanson elaborates on what the plan is for the second half of the 2023 season. “We graduated a ton of those seniors that got us to where we want it to be. So this year, it is trying to instill the work ethic in the team, and then also we talk about pack running. We’re trying to form a new pack,” Hanson said.

Due to the cross country’s team’s season being mostly in the summer, they tend to get overlooked when it comes to how hard they work and what their training consists of. The team never fails to put in the work both in and out of the school year. “We train Monday through Friday and an average day looks like anywhere from two miles up to six or seven, if you’re really going for it ten,” junior runner Emma Dempsey said.

BSM cross country runners love that although their training is undoubtedly difficult, they find ways to have fun too. “The night before a race the team always has a pasta party which is always a lot of fun and a good way to prepare. Also, every week we just will do some fun games throughout practice and get to know each other,” Dempsey said.