Cross Country Practice

In many ways, cross country is an individual sport. Athletes run 3.1 miles and based on their time are individually placed. At the events, there is a team component to it, but it is accumulated based on the individual accomplishments of each runner. So does cross country have the same team mentality as other sports? The WA coaches would certainly argue that "team" is one of the largest factors to their success. They have every right to this notion, having qualified for the state meet in 3 of the past 6 years, and who are currently the defending conference champions.

The coaches believe that building a team mentality in cross country helps the team to motivate each other when running becomes mentally difficult. Most runners get sore at the start of the season, and the weather gets cold as they move into October. There are often many struggles in between, but the team carries each other all season. Pictured is some team building at Woodward Academy. After a weeks worth of hard work, the team enjoyed their Friday afternoon using this homemade slip and slide. At first glance, it doesn't look like a cross country practice at all but it sure looks like fun. All of the coaches even got involved in the action. That's building a team. Go Knights!