Led by head coach Ms. Miranda Santa and assistant coach Ms. Ashley Spencer, the cross country team officially kicked off their season on July 22. Starting in late summer, the cross-country team began preparing for this season. The team consists of five members — Noah Chaousy (11), Hannah Shaffer (11), Wyatt Miller (9), Gregory Kline (9) and Cooper Brien (9). Only two of the runners — Chaousy and Shaffer have competed at a high school level before this season.
“The entire team has improved a lot since the beginning of the season, we have been getting better every meet,” Wyatt Miller (9) said.
To be an official cross-country team, there must be five runners of each gender. Since Freedom’s team only has four male runners and one female, they do not count as an official team. Meaning they will not receive a team score — only individual scores. A team score is the composite time of five runners. This can help advance the runners to the state competition. Without the team scores, each runner is dependent only on themselves. The team is still allowed to compete in meets but they will only receive an individual score, unlike other schools with official teams.
The cross country team started their season with their first meet on Aug. 28 against Riverside High School. During this meet Chaousy placed 9th in the male bracket, Miller placed 24th, and Shaffer placed 22nd in the female bracket. The team also competed in the Red, White and Blue invitational meet. At this meet, all of the runners beat their personal records. They also competed in their only home meet at Brush Creek Park on Sept. 10. At this meet Chaousy placed 12th, Brien placed 22nd, Miller placed 23rd, Kline placed 26th and Shaffer placed 46th.
During practice, they do various workouts including abdominal, cardiovascular, speed drills and strength training. These workouts are made to fit each runner’s individual goals. The team has also participated in a few different scrimmages. This is important because it gives the runners an idea of how competitions will work and what they need to improve on before the season starts. Scrimmages also present a great opportunity to run different courses and see what meets are like without the pressure of competition.
Since the high school team is so small, they have been building the program at the middle school level. This means including the middle school runners at practice so they can see what cross-country is like.
The skills they build while in middle school will help them become better runners at the high school level.
“I am feeling good about the season. The entire team has improved a lot since the beginning of the season, we have been getting better every meet,” Miller says.
Having the younger runners run with the high schoolers gives both groups a chance to challenge themselves and have exposure to new ideas. This also gives them a chance to see how it feels running with a larger group since the high school team is so small.
It also gives the runners a chance to talk to other people and create more friendships. The team has eight middle school members, three of them will be in high school next year. Meaning that the chance of having an official team next year is rather high.
This year the team is focused on their individual goals. Since they are not an official team it is important to make sure that everyone is the strongest they can be. If they can form an official team next year, this will be extremely beneficial for everyone.
“I am feeling good about the season. The entire team has improved a lot since the beginning of the season, we have been getting better every meet,” Brien says.