By: Angel Baeza, junior

It’s the beginning of a new school year which means the cross country season has also started.
Carlos Cura, senior, said, “I have been running cross country since the 7th grade.” The reason he started running was that the boy’s team needed more people, and he’s been running ever since. Cura recalls that one of his best memories was during his freshman year when the team went to state. When asked why he likes cross country, Carlos said: “I just like being able to go fast and feel the cold crisp wind.” Cura believes that there is always a bigger fish, and he uses that to keep his flame burning when he is feeling down about running. His worst experience was last year’s regional meet when cold winds combined with rain, made it a horrible meet. Carlos loves running so much that when asked if there was anything he dislikes about it he responded with “Nothing, to me running, is amazing in every way.”
XC participant Bree Haire, junior, has been running for 6 years! She said, “I’ve always found running enjoyable, and it’s also a thing that calms me down.” One of her best memories is during the 2019-2020 Regional Meet. Hadley Fouts, junior, and Bree went through the same elevator door three times in one day. Her favorite thing about XC is not only when she gets to run with her teammates, but it also keeps her in really good shape. Haire said to stay motivated “I pray a lot about running, especially meets. Then and I remember who looks up to me, my little sister.” Bree remembers one of her worst memories and mentions it was her first meet ever, she got to run with the more experienced runners and started to think confidently because she thought that she was ready enough but got completely exhausted. When asked what makes her dislike running she said, “Sometimes you want to quit but your coach is right there, so you really can’t…”
Nathan Gaddis, 8th grade, is running XC for his second year. Gaddis started running cross country because he felt like he would be good at it. Nathan said, “My best memory in cross country is all the bus rides there but most important are the bus rides back.” His favorite thing about running is being able to be competitive. He stays motivated by trying to improve his time and place at every meet. Even runners can have bad experiences too, Nathan said: “My worst running experience was last year at the Rankin meet and I ran in the cold.” He also said that the thing he hates about running is waking up early to go to meets and practices.