The Varsity Boys’ Cross Country team has finished their season this year as Central Coast Section (CCS) Champions. Beating out teams like Los Altos High School and Branham High School, the Lancers have secured a spot in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Championship in Fresno on November 25. But what goes into ensuring success for the team?
Cross country isn’t as simple as just running on race day; a lot of preparation is required for a good race. A typical week of practice includes running everyday after school and on Saturday mornings. Athletes run anywhere from three to eleven miles at each practice. Justin Fann (’25) comments, “Once we get back, we grab some water and do push-ups and dips or core depending on the day. My favorite part is just hanging out with my teammates, talking while we stretch and roll before debriefing with the coaches, and going our separate ways.” Riley Clarke (’25) adds, “our training does not end after the run but continues into various forms of strength training and recovery efforts like stretching, rolling, and icing.”
There are also many special traditions that help foster a community within the team. Fann describes his favorite tradition: “Family Friday [is] where we all get together after practice on Friday and a pair of seniors bring snacks while we drink Gatorade. We all gather together and hear a speech from a teammate before hearing a presentation on the athlete of the week who has demonstrated [an] exceptional work ethic [while] being a good teammate.” Not only does this tradition bring the team closer together, but it also encourages hard work.
Clarke says his favorite tradition is the “team huddle before every race. After taking our last stride off the line we meet in a circle to pray, reflect, and do a team chant before the race starts. In this moment, I truly feel a part of a community; it reminds me of all the work I’ve done to get me to that point and the support I have around me. The chaos of all the teams around us fades away, and I get truly locked in to overcome the challenge I’m about to face.”
To help prepare for races physically and mentally, Clarke says the team will go on “a short ten minute shake-out run a few hours before to loosen up the body.” Additionally, “before league meets, [they] also always stop in the vans across the street at the bagel shop for lunch.” The team also spends their pre-race time locking in and “getting in the right mindset to race.”
Securing a team title for cross country requires team-depth because scoring at meets works similarly to golf: the lowest score wins. Each cross country team has seven athletes run the course, and the five fastest people from each team are counted towards the team score. Their places, determined by the order in which each person finishes the race relative to everyone else, are then added up, resulting in victory for the lowest-scoring team.
Winning CCS was a memorable experience for the entire cross country program, with both the girls’ and boys’ teams taking first. Clarke says, “after we crossed the line and anticipated the final results coming and saw Saint Francis at the top, we couldn’t contain our excitement, jumping and yelling. It was truly something special and showed all the hours of work we had put in had truly paid off.”
