Though it seems as if the time’s flown by faster, it’s been around three months since the Spartans’ cross-country team got back into the swing of things. It was a sports option last school year, back when the Scholars Guild Spartans barely even existed, but truth be told, we’ve received a lot more interest in joining this time around.
Since the start of our current season - which began in the sweltering heat of June - we’ve had a dedicated high school girls' team made up of Kate Hammons, Ally Fleetwood, Lillian Lovering, Lilly Roberts, Addison Roberts, and myself (Morgan Greene). A high school boys' team was also recently established, thanks to the joining of Timothy Harper. This team consists of Brandan Newberry, Wyatt Van der Walt, James Lovering, Timothy, and Ben Brinkman.
Of course, another season of cross-country at SGA wouldn’t have been likely to occur without the aid of my parents, the coaches; particularly my mom. I hope to interview her for a separate article sometime in the near future, so be sure to stick around. Either way, a big shoutout to Maggie Greene, as you know her.
Now, I’m going to discuss the parks and trails that we usually hop on over to for practices. I’ll get to the meets afterward.
#1- Meridian Park
My personal favorite is none other than the one that we visit following that exhausting day of Scholars Guild. Yep: we have Tuesday practices. However, as tedious as this sounds, it is the most convenient for everyone. Anyone getting out of classes for the day at 3:00-3:15, such as myself, will run from 3:15 to 4:15. Anyone getting out at 4:30, such as the infamous theater group, will run from 4:30 to 5:30. We run a forest trail that amounts to a mile. My parents make us do three laps around, in order to come just shy of a 5K. (Disclaimer: The sign at the entrance of the trail will say “1.2 mi.” if ever you decide to check it out. This is NOT accurate, according to the tracking watches worn by some of the runners.) The forest is nicely shaded, and can certainly provide some aid to your lungs. It’s also great practice for those who struggle with terrain. Be careful not to trip on a root!
#2- Wilkins Greenway
This park is nothing but a long trail. A small fraction of it is concrete, while the rest curves off into the woods. We often run the concrete bit, but we did take two “endurance strolls” through the forest trail. Talk about training for the terrain-loathers. It’s seven miles long! But fantastic for building up that much-needed endurance, as the name suggests.
#3- Oconee Veterans Park
We haven’t visited this park in a couple of months or so. It mostly served its purpose for our summer training, as well as hosting a cross-country camp. It certainly wasn’t my favorite park, being fully concrete. I admit that I like the challenge of rocky, rooty running conditions. It can mold you well for meets.
Speaking of which, we’ve had two official meets so far. In these meets, middle schoolers run 3Ks and high schoolers run 5Ks.
Meet #1- LCA Invitational
Our first meet was highly competitive, for there were some very fast boys and girls with amazing endurance running for the various schools that attended. The races consisted of middle school, JV, high school boys, and high school girls. High school boys went first. Then girls. Then JV, and so on. Since there were so many athletes (over 100 in most races), we Spartans tended to get lost in the shuffle. However, one of us did medal in middle school.
Meet #2- Piedmont XC Festival
Our second meet was much more successful for everyone, I think. Middle school crushed it yet again with their stellar performances, and we high school girls shaved off a good bit of time ourselves. However, this track contained a huge, unmerciful hill of grass towards the end of each lap. Doing three laps, the high schoolers had to run up it three times!
On a less repulsing note, this meet allowed kids eight years old and under to run a 2K for an automatic medal! My little sister, as well as a friend of hers with siblings attending SGA, competed. They didn’t have to run up the hill either, thank goodness. Also, this time, the order of the races was reversed - 8U went first, then the middle school boys, then the middle school girls (which we have none of, by the way), next the high school boys, and finally the high school girls and I. There was, too, an optional 5K that evening for any adults who wanted to run.
Twice, on each of these meets, fellow runner Ben Brinkman won second place for our middle school boys' team! To receive more insight from him, I interviewed Ben just following his return from the finish line last meet.
Me: Why did you want to run cross-country?
Ben: I knew that it would put me in better shape for basketball. Plus, I enjoy running and thought that it would be a good experience for me.
Me: Do you have a certain strategy for running?
Ben: Mostly I just try to keep on going and breathe slowly.
Me: Do you find yourself running with us again next season?
Ben: Yes.
If anyone reading this article decides that they’d like to join one of our cross-country teams or teams-to-be (for instance, we’d have an official high school boys team if we were to get one more high school boy!), please don’t be shy and use this link. We’d love to have you!
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