After great results last year for both the boys and girls cross country teams at Mason, the athletes
are excited to be back to training, and are hoping to meet their goals for the new season. The team and coaches are pushing to place higher at states this year.
The girls team had an amazing performance last year, many were disappointed with their second-place finish to Maggie Walker and are looking to finally beat them this year. The boys lost several senior runners last year, and are hoping to keep the team strong.
“Training was more intense this year, but people responded well,” said Coach Jeff Buck about the changes from last year. “We have a great group, really good team chemistry. It really helps the team.”
The teams have had a solid start to the season. Their first meet was held September against Clarke County on their home course. The boys won, and the girls were defeated by a narrow three points.
“It was kind of a shocker,” said sophomore Cara McFall of the girls team’s loss. “The whole course felt uphill, it was very challenging.”
The girls were disappointed with this start to the season, but are determined to improve.
“It was definitely a rustbuster, but that’s part of the season” said junior Lucy Hoak.
The team had their second race on Saturday, September 19 at Braddock High School. This race was different from the team’s usual 3.1-mile races – each athlete competed with a 5-person relay team and ran only a mile and a half. Even the coaches joined the fun, running the open race at the meet. Both the boys and girls teams placed very well at this race, even though it was much larger than their race last Wednesday. The team is hoping to place high again in their upcoming races this Wednesday and Saturday, September 30 and October 3,and to continue improving throughout the season.
With high hopes and dedicated training, the Mason cross country teams will certainly be important to watch this sports season. “On the boys side, we’re hoping to get back to states this year,” said Buck. “For the girls, hopefully we can come home with a state trophy.”
The team had their last three-way meet last Wednesday, October 7, with the girls in 1st, and boys in 2nd. Both girls and boys will travel to Gettysburg, PA, for an invitational on Saturday, October 10.
