The 2020 school year has begun, and the cross country season along with it.  This season, the team hopes to place in the state, and they’ve put in the work this summer to get there.

Over the summer, the cross country team was able to practice regularly while following social distancing guidelines. They saw a large number of runners coming to practice regularly, which is a change from past seasons. When Coach Theresa Gosnell was asked about the team’s progress this summer, she gave credit to everyone’s hard work. 

“A lot of [the runners] got many miles in this summer, so that was really good,” Gosnell said.

The team’s work over the summer has left Gosnell with high hopes for this season. 

“[The runners] were there, and they were putting in the time, and [the team’s] success comes from the summer,” Gosnell said

When asked about any stand-out runners on the team, Gosnell discussed a few that have shown high potential for this upcoming season. 

“We have a freshman, her name is Claire White, and she is going to be doing amazing things,” Gosnell said.

Gosnell mentioned that White will most likely be leading the team in running time this season, along with juniors Reece Young-Oestman and Noelle Ables. White’s current 5k time is 20 minutes and 10 seconds, and she runs a five-minute and thirty-second mile.

Because the cross country team has few seniors, leadership falls on the juniors. On the girl’s side of the team, Reece and Noelle have taken on co-leading roles. Both have been putting in the miles since freshman year, and they share the girls’ school record for the 5,000-meter run, which they achieved in their freshman year. Both juniors said they think the team will do well this year.

On the boy’s side of the team, Gosnell mentioned junior Sam Dowd.

“For boys, Sam Dowd is probably the lead runner. He’s [going to] improve so much from last season,” Gosnell said.

She also mentioned junior Minh Nguyen, a strong all-around athlete who partook in several challenges and high-intensity training methods this summer. This training has shown in his running times, and Gosnell said she expects him to do well this season, too.

The team hasn’t discussed any goals as a whole, but Gosnell expressed her excitement for the young team.

“We don’t have any senior girls this year, and one senior boy, so [the team] is really young,” said Gosnell. “I really think this is going to be the future.”

The cross country team starts their season this Saturday, August 29. They will be hosting six other teams at the Sunset Hills Golf Course in their first meet of the season.