Cross country season has come to an end after a long six months of hard work. The pre-season started in June with 7 am practices every weekday in the summer, and these runners have been accruing mileage all month long since June 1. A select group of 27 runners were taken to summer training camp in Rocky Bottom, SC. There, varsity teams bond and build up their mileage during the summer. At this camp, runners bonded over shared meals, card games, movie nights, tubing, bingo, twice-a-day practices, creek soaks and the final run up Sassafras Mountain.
This year Spartanburg High School’s cross country team grew tremendously not only adding the new 7th-grade runners, but also getting many transfer athletes such as Elloree and Cal Flippin, Emie and Ensley Dyar, Carter Merchant, Sydney Okolichany, and Annabelle Davis. These athletes’ addition to the team elevated the team’s competitiveness.
Annabelle Davis (10) joined the cross country team after moving to Spartanburg from Florida.
“I have had a great experience on the team as a new runner. The team was so welcoming, and we had so much fun while working hard and to achieve our goals,” Davis said.
The actual season started on the first day of school, Aug. 12, which was also the start of after-school practices for these runners. A typical week for cross country athletes is school all day, practice after school Monday through Thursday from 3:45 to 5:30 pm, and morning practice from 5:00 to 5:45 am before school on Friday. Then the week is capped off with a meet on Saturday morning.
English teacher Allison Dunlap, a new assistant coach this year for the cross country team, was impressed with the team’s commitment and good attitude, even in the early mornings.
“Since June, our cross country athletes have shown tremendous dedication in preparing for this season. From early morning summer practices at 7 am to practices after school, the positivity, effort, and hard work our athletes bring to each practice and meet are nothing short of inspiring,” Dunlap said.
The boys’ and girls’ varsity teams have run ten meets this season, both making it to state. The Junior Varsity teams ran a total of nine meets.
Cannon Mitchell (9) has been on the team for three years and recommends cross country to those interested.
“It’s great hearing people you don’t know shout ‘Go Vikings!’ My favorite course is probably Eye Opener, and my least favorite course is definitely Lakelands,” Mitchell said. “I would recommend cross country to others because it’s one of only a few sports where you can always improve.”
In between practices and races, the coaches occasionally give the athletes a break from the stress of the season with fun activities such as scavenger hunts and pumpkin painting contests. While these fun activities still require some running it is a fun change of pace for the athletes to compete with other skills.
Dunlap recounts watching the athletes show off their creativity in the pumpkin painting contest.
“One recent memory that stands out is our pumpkin painting contest on Halloween. Following a typical practice, our runners had just ten minutes to collaborate with their team and brainstorm a creative idea for their pumpkin, all in hopes of winning the contest. All the coaches—Coach Baird, Coach Coggins, Coach Todd, and I—were truly impressed by their artistic skills and creativity, especially under such time constraints,” Dunlap said. “Team building activities like this remind me of the strong community the SHS cross country program has fostered. Our goal is to cultivate lifelong runners and inspire our athletes to push their limits and excel as runners, students and individuals.”
As the cross country season came to an end, both the boys’ and girls’ varsity teams qualified to compete in the state meet. This was the first time in six years that the girls’ varsity team has qualified for state. State was held on Nov. 21, at Newberry where SHS girls finished in the top ten. The boys team ended up with a ninth place finish at the state competition.
This was the final high school cross country race for seniors Halle Abbott, Jennifer Barnica, Knox Eaton, Nick Rhoden and Walker Nunes. Seniors Ellie Schafer, Sam Foster and Johnny Rubio had their final race a week prior. After a long season of early wake-up times and hundreds of miles, these final races were a great way to close out an amazing season this year for the cross country team.
