Cross Country goes virtual, runs beyond expectation; Hopes for Track season rise

    Sports have been drastically different this school year than other years due to COVID. This impacted both the Cross Country and Track and Field seasons in many ways. The Cross Country team, however, decided to continue practicing, and although unofficially, those who participated were able to gain some sense of normalcy through this season.

    Laurel Brown, a Varsity Cross Country as well as Track and Field runner “participated in a couple different things” both inside and outside of school-sanctioned events. She ‘ran in some virtual 5ks to get times for college” along with “an in-person training group formed held by Charm City Run” that she was apart of. “We had about 70+ kids from almost every school in Harford county. We did a lot of intense workouts that greatly helped me improve my running and I met a lot of good friends there.  It was fantastic,” Brown stated.

    Regarding the Track and Field season, “if we have one”, says Brown, “I think it will only consist of running events because a lot of field events involve touching the same item and jumping on mats and whatnot.” However, she believes that there will be many precautions other than that, such as “wearing masks up to the start line, distance us out between each lane, then allow us to take our mask off as we run.” 

    In addition to these new rules, Brown guesses that “the heats will definitely be less crowded than they normally are. There will probably be more heats, but fewer people to each heat.”  

    The interactions with other teams, counties, and states would be very limited. This difficulty in reaching out to people also spread to freshmen as little to none are planning on joining. “The days of playing Cards against humanity, crammed on a bus, on the way to Kent Island, in the pouring rain, with your friends are gone,” says Brown.

    Jimmy Cachola, North Harford High School’s Head Track and Field/Pole Vault Coach and Assistant Cross Country Coach, brings a new perspective on the possible season. Unfortunately, “We were not able to have an indoor season for track and cross country has not been accepted yet due to the pandemic,” says Cachola. 

    Coach Cachola stated that he“just opened up the registration” and as speculated by the runner, Laurel Brown, “enrollment is down from last season.”

    While there is very little information about this upcoming season and it is mostly speculation, there is, however, information on how virtual Cross Country went. “Coach O’Leary set up team practice with captains and gave out workouts for individuals to keep in shape.  To date there has not been a season,” Cachola explains. Additionally, Coach O’Leary had speed and endurance workouts for the athletes, and they were issued every one to two weeks.  Some consisted of distance and some were sprints, but stretching was always included with some yoga exercises every once in a while.

    Virtual Cross Country was able to exceed expectations as many fall sports chose not to do anything, so the spring season brings new hopes for runners with a possible Track and Field season.