Bang! And the gun goes off! The Richwoods Cross-Country team is starting off strong this year with 5 meets already through, 3 meets left until regionals, and 4 meets left until sectionals. With practices being held every day for 2 hours, it’s no surprise when the Cross-Country team comes back with medals.
To those of you new to the sport, Cross-Country is a long-distance running sport that is 3 miles. The top runners run in under 16 minutes! That’s almost 5 minutes per mile! So, if you are interested in running this fast or just want to get fit, Cross-Country sounds like the sport just for you. Practices are held every day from 2:45 PM to 4:45 PM with Coaches Clark, Padera, and Kellum outside at the football stadium entrance. They hope to see you there.
If you would like to see the Cross-Country team’s practice before committing, here is the usual schedule. Mondays are either long day (running 5+ miles) or mile repeats. Tuesdays are 35 minutes of light running and an hour in the weight room. Wednesdays are speed days, usually consisting of intervals of 400+ meters. Thursdays are hill sprints or tempo work. Fridays are usually recovery days with a pasta party hosted by parents of the Cross-Country team. Finally, Saturdays are meet days that usually end in the early afternoon.
With that said, let’s have an introduction to this year’s team. This year’s male varsity members in order are Gabe Gross, Cole Lystila, Daniel Havenga, Elliot Hicks, and Eli Hauri. This year’s male seniors are Joshua Carter, Elliot Hickes, Gabe Gross, Zar Malalay, Benjamen Melendy, Joshua Opherk, Dalton Schott, Johnny Thai. This year’s female varsity runners in order are Annie Witte, Mattia Rosenburg, Paige Mauritzson, Strickler Zoe, Zarianna Rhodes, Lucia Farrell, Lola Skolaski, and Becca Kravetz. This year’s female seniors are Manar Salem and Zarianna Rhodes.
With the Cross-Country team already starting strong, the question that remains is will the Cross-Country team keep this pace up or will they slow down? Will Gabe Gross go off to state? Will Joshua Carter make varsity? Who knows? What we do know is that you should come to a meet and support your Cross-Country team as they push on and bring home glory for the Richwoods Knights.
