After having an incredible season last fall, the girls cross country runners are eager to follow up with the start of another fantastic season. They are dedicated to their sport, having already started training halfway through their summer break, weeks before the start of their season.

Junior Emma Duckworth, a third year cross country athlete, is participating on the varsity cross country team for the first time this year.

“For varsity, they want you to hit certain times in a race or you have to finish within the first seven runners from the team to finish in a race. There are seven girls and seven guys on varsity,” Duckworth said.

According to Duckworth, the transition from training with JV to training with varsity wasn’t a difficult one to make.

“We do the same workouts most of the time,” Duckworth said. “Like on Wednesday, we did a mile warm up, then an 800-meter interval, a ten-minute run, another 800m.”

The cross country camp focused on getting both new and returning members prepared for the season. Coach, Ms. Michelle Breuer touched on important aspects of running long distance and tested their fitness.

Junior Emily Tourville, a returning member of cross country, attended the cross country camp.

“At camp, one of the first things we did was a test to see how in shape we were,” Tourville said, “They would make us run for twelve minutes and however many laps we ran was what determined how in shape we were.”

The first cross country meet is on Aug. 27 at Quail Ridge and is the Cross Country Kick-Off. The girls are looking forward to their first chance of the year to get competitive with other schools.

“The competitiveness is usually just in the race,” Tourville said. “In the meets, when your neck-and-neck with someone, it can get pretty scary. I get so nervous.”

Duckworth not only has competitive experiences during a race, but within the team as well.

“The meets can get pretty competitive. There is competition with our own team for a varsity spot, and then there’s obviously competition against the other teams in the meet so you can do well,” Duckworth said.