Cheering crowds. Beating heart. Racing feet. Beads of sweat poured down Laura’s face as she sprinted to the finish line. Laura Tarantino, senior, has been an exceedingly competitive and passionate runner for the past four years. She is one of the 30 members on the WCA Cross Country Team. A sport of endurance and stamina, cross-country requires a lot of hard work to run for long distances.
Every day after school, 18 boys and 12 girls meet in the room of Dan Burke, upper school English teacher and head cross-country coach, to discuss the schedule for that day. Afterwards, depending on the day, these runners go to Queeny Park, Conway Park, or run behind school. Conducting practices from 3:15 to 5:15pm, Burke, Ken Boesch, and Jennifer Meyer, assistant coaches, commit their time and effort to prepare both the boys’ and girls’ teams for meets.
“We have a developmental team. There are many new runners from all grades in the upper school,” said Meyer.
This is an exciting fact that the coaches are proud of, because in years past, the teams have not been as big or varied.
“It’s fun to have a bigger group. There’s more interest and people developing,” said Meyer.
In all, there are eight freshmen, eight sophomores, seven juniors, and seven seniors. This year the teams possess many wild cards. The new runners that have promising finish times include a few freshmen such as Kayla Brown, McKaylah Meredith, and David Hotard. These are some of the many runners who display extraordinary talent. For example, in the first meet which was a 5k, Brown finished with a time of 22:45 and Meredith with 21:58- two incredible times for freshmen.
For many runners, reasons why they commit to such a taxing sport vary. For Anna Lindstrom, junior, she believes that it challenges her athletically and it helps her relieve stress. Taylor Freiner, senior, and a first-time runner on the WCA team, wanted to try something new.
Misconceptions about the sport exist. While many think that cross-country is an activity which primarily helps one stay in shape and is just an individual sport, runners disagree. Unlike any other sport, cross-country is one where its team members bond in a very compelling way. They encourage each other while experiencing the pain and love for the sport. The relationships that sprout reach beyond the tendrils of high school.
“I still keep in touch with people on the team that graduated several years ago. It’s a different sort of friendship. You have seen each other at your worst, like in a hard workout or a disappointing race, and you have experienced joy together also, like when you finally meet a goal,” said Tarantino.
The WCA cross-country team extends beyond running. While challenging each runner athletically, it instills compelling relationships with one another and builds perseverance and character.
