The cross country team entered the month of Oct. learning about pacing themselves with thoughts of improving.

“The end of the season is starting to shape up well,” Coach Ed Shepard said. “People are starting to get faster times at the right time of the year.”

In cross country, it’s important to start at a pace that’s comfortable, and stop from giving up before the race ends. Otherwise, the runner will have trouble beating their previous times.

With the proper pacing, runners should be able to tell how many minutes each mile will take to complete the race. So far, the team has worked to improve their scores from August to October, which is the most important thing to the coach.

“We can see from Brush Creek in August to now, the team has definitely improved their times,” Shephard said.

On Sept. 30, the team went up against North Catholic, Eden Christian Academy and Avonworth HS at Ridley Park. Both Senior Danny Conrad and Sophomore Avery Sayre placed in the top 20.

On Oct. 4, the team attended the Central Catholic Invitational held at Schenley Park.

“Yeah, it was really cold and windy,” Junior Dane Mathesius said. The team sat in their tent away from the chilly air and tried to keep warm.

“The invitational was wonderful,” Sophomore Evan Sweesy said.

At the end of the day, medals were given to Conrad who placed in the top 10 and Sayre who placed in the top 20.

On Oct. 9, the weather presented a challenge to the team, but they didn’t let that affect them. MACs took place at Brush Creek.

“Yeah, it was cold outside, but overall we had fun, and that’s what’s most important,” Sophomore Aaron James said.

On Oct. 15, the Freedom Invitational took place at Brush Creek.Teams from neighboring schools came to compete. Conrad earned a spot in the top 30, along with Sayre, Seniors Kayleigh Roberts and Zachary Kugel.

Roberts represented the girls’ team along with Sophomore Breanna Karns to support their fellow runners.

“Danny is definitely the most dedicated out of all of us,” Roberts said.

Many other boys from the team have mentioned the same thing, as Conrad has come to every single meet that has been held so far. He leads the team as a senior, and has been one of Freedom’s top runners based on his scores throughout his time here at FHS.

Watching the cross country team compete throughout the season, brought improvement to previous scores, as well as new members to the team.