Westside cross country teams ready for Districts

The Westside girls and boys cross country teams are coming off great performances at the Metro Championships on Thursday, Oct. 9 . The Warriors are looking forward to continuing that in the District meet this year. The Westside girls team won their first Metro team title and the boys finished in sixth place.

The goals for districts are set in stone. The goal: repeat what happened at Metro and qualify for the State Championships in Kearney later this month. 

“The goals of the team are to qualify for state,” head coach Theresa Gosnell said. “The girls would like to win the district title.”

As players and coaches prepare they focus on their mental mindset. Runners continue their normal physical routines to stay ready. The stakes and pressure are high, keeping things as normal as possible is what the team is doing. 

“I am trying to keep things as normal as possible,” Gosnell said. “ It is another race in many ways, but the pressure is higher too. So, I try to maintain that balance for the team.” 

The teams don’t want to get too far ahead of themselves either. After having a great performance at the Metro conference meet they know what to expect, but don’t want to take it lightly. Westside junior Stella Miner became the first Warrior to win the Metro meet and hopes to have another strong performance at Districts.

“I think if we pull something off like we did this week we’ll be fine,” Miner said. 

Both teams are taking similar approaches. Each runner is doing similar things as well. Runners focus on mental mindset along with rest, recovery and the normal healthy eating routine. 

“To prepare, we are on a down week in the quantity of running to prevent burning out and to feel fresh for the important race,” sophomore runner Connor Gross said. “Besides that it turns to personal accountability on how well you eat, sleep, and recover.”

Runners turn to personal goals and team goals. Each runner sets their own goal and each team has a set goal as well. The goal for the girls, win districts and qualify for state. The boys work towards a second or third place finish to qualify for state. 

“As an individual I hope for fifth place,” junior runner Jayden Wall said. “As a team we have a solid shot at second or third so that is the hope.”

The girls and boys teams will be competing in the A-3 District with seven other teams. The meet is on Thursday, Oct.13 at Pioneers Park in Lincoln. With district titles and a chance to make state on the line, the stakes are as high as they have been all year.