The girls’ cross country season came to an end during the D1 Championship when they placed 14th.
Edward Burgess, head coach, said the team placed where he expected, and he’s happy with how the season ended.
“It ended really well,” Burgess said. “I definitely saw improvement as the season went on, and I am so proud of this team.”
Senior Emily Smith has been running with Burgess for years now. She has high hopes that the team’s hard work will show up in the future.
“We pushed hard in practice and it paid off in the end,” Smith said. “Our top seven girls went to D1’s and competed really well.”
This wouldn’t be Lancer girls’ XC’s first success; back in 1994, they were able to travel around the U.S. to face the best teams throughout the country.
“We went down to a big meet in Atlanta and the number one team [in the nation] was there, along with the number sixth team, and the number 16th,” Burgess said. “We ended up winning the whole thing.”
They only accomplished this through their workouts and endurance. They aim for the runners to be fit by the time the season comes around then they build up on strength and endurance.
“Hopefully we get them to do enough running over the summer so they come in in pretty good shape,” Burgess said. “They have to be able to run the 5k, so the stronger they are, the more they can build up the endurance and speed towards the middle to end of the season.”
With practices throughout the week, the girls had to stick to a consistent warmup before workouts in order to stay healthy and strong.
“They do a half mile warmup and dynamic stretching before they do the workout,” Burgess said. “Usually a typical week would have two hard workouts a week then a meet. The rest would be just easy runs.”
Some of the runners even go as far as running multiple miles for a workout. The girls’ discipline and dedication to running allows them to be the best at what they can do.
“They have to put in really distanced running most of the year,” Burgess said. “They run ten miles for a workout during the season, so it takes a lot of discipline making sure they get that.”
All this effort pays off in other ways too, the team’s close knit atmosphere makes sophomore Sadie White love the sport even more.
“I love cross country because the team is like a small family,” White said.
Burgess has a lot of faith in his players and their want to run. He knows that he can trust his players to get what they need done and not be an unsportsmanlike runner.
“The girls that are on the team are always some of the nicest kids in the school,” Burgess said.
