This season, the girls cross country team have stayed very consistent at their meets. The team has many fast runners who are trying to reach their team goals through hard work and support of each other, making the team stronger with many athletes beating school records.

The team is filled with a lot of people from different sports. Usually they will recruit people who didn’t make the cut at tryouts for sports like soccer. Other people may come from track, Eden Letourneau, senior, says, “We go to the activities fair every year” … “we just try to get people that could be in track, people that need something to do in the fall”.

The most noticeable thing about the girls team is that compared to other Stillwater teams, it’s far smaller. Because of this, the girls have become a lot closer, Elsie Rush, senior, explains, “One of my favorite things about the cross country team is that there’s little to no clicks”. Since the team is smaller, it allows the girls to uplift each other rather than make snide comments behind each other’s backs.

Eden Letourneau, senior, explains “It is one of those sports that’s really mental. You have to push yourself while being on a team with other girls that want to push through the boundaries”. All the girls seem to have an equal mindset of beating the fastest time they can and moving on up.

They all share a passion for performing at their best. Wether they win or not is not a concern, Emma Hamond, freshman, says, “I really like the people on it, and the people really help a lot that are in there” … “able to create relationships with other people”.

When it comes to injuries on the team, girls like Elsie Rush, senior, deal with them by “forcing them to take a break almost, and helping them realize that they need to take care of their body if they want to be able to continue running”. In her early years she of Cross Country she would not take breaks, but with rest, she now sees results.

She also helps her teammates through similar circumstances and tries to teach them about the importance of healing their bodies, Elsie Rush, senior, says, “I’ve spent every one of my cross country seasons hurt in some way. I have chronic knee pain, which is something that I’ve learned to like run with and run through” … “There’s a girl on my team, who’s a year younger than me, who’s been experiencing really bad pain, and so I’ve been able to take my experiences and help her understand how beneficial treating yourself is”.

Over half way into the season the girls meets have been very coherent with one another, with JV and Varsity placing in the middle of the pack. Runners on this team like Emma Hamond, freshman, want to move up the pack and see their team’s name in the higher regions and make that the new normal. The girls also brought up how big a deal mental toughness is in the sport, Eden Letouneau, senior, explains, “If you can push through things you can grow a lot with yourself and grow with your team”. There’s a domino effect for the teammates where if one is motivated another wants to do their best.

Despite the team’s size, they all support one another and themselves to get the fastest times possible. The mental discipline they put in comes from the team spirit. It would not be surprising to see them make it to the “front of the pack” says, Emma Hamond, freshman, later this season.