Cross country season begins; Runners face Bull Run

     Cross country is getting into their season after having practiced since August 12.

     Griffin Hevesy, senior, is a captain of the cross country team. He has been running since freshman year, and enjoys it “even though every practice can be rough.” To prepare for meets, he “drink[s] a lot of water the day before to make the cramps less bad during the race.”

     On September 18, some of the runners from the team participated in the Bull Run meet, their second meet of the season.

     Kyle Hoy, junior, started running cross country this year. “Bull Run was without a doubt a difficult race that tested me and made me question why I am running, but it was a fun time,” he says. “It was a day-long race event that had hundreds of schools from all over the state. It was an event that made you go wow when you first start[ed].” 

     Finley Lavin, junior, is a captain for the girls’ team. “The Bull Run is…a challenging course that will kill you mentally and physically,” she explains. She also says she “didn’t have [her] best race, but it felt… great to finish.”

     Sierra Weaver, junior, is the second captain for the girls. “The Bull Run is a very hard course. It is super hilly and hard to tackle,” she says. “There is rarely a time that you feel that everything is going smoothly. I felt very challenged.”

     This race is known for how difficult it is, and some runners have to fight mentally alongside their physical battle. “At the start of the race, I felt a little over-anxious because everybody hypes up the race a lot and says it is really hard,” Hoy explains. “As soon as I started going through the hills, I realized that they were right. During the race, I felt like I was hitting a mental and physical wall because it was hard for me to… increase my pace and keep going.”

     Lavin placed first for North Harford in the last three meets. She says she needs a positive mindset to do this, which entails “encouraging [her]self to continue running.”

     Valentina Angulo, sophomore, placed second for the team in the recent meet at Elkton. “In the beginning, [running] feels good, but when you hit mile 2.5, the heat starts kicking in and you get really tired. The last half mile feels like death.”

     Despite some complaining, these runners still enjoy their sport. “For the most part, I enjoy cross country,” Hoy says. “I love the feeling of pushing myself to do better every race, but my favorite part is probably just getting that last second of adrenaline near the finish line as you pass another runner within the home stretch.”

     “My favorite thing about [cross country] is definitely the people on the team,” Hevesy says.

     “I like the people that I get to run with because everyone is super nice and supportive,” Angulo says. “It’s fun and people should try it. Also, Mrs. O’Leary’s the best!”