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Loving the energy of cross country


“Are you the coach? My son dropped out of the race without finishing. He was sitting down rather discouraged when one of your boys, I don’t know which one, walked over to him and told him he did a good job. I meant a lot to my son. I thought it was pretty neat that someone from another team would go out of their way to compliment him.”

All through the races at our meet today, I watched my cross country team cheer on runners not only from their team, but from the other teams as well. When there were only one or two runners out on the course, some of my runners went out on the course to cheer them in. When a girl from another team was in last place struggling to finish due to an asthma attack, they walked on either side of her until she crossed the finish line safely. When a the crowd had been waiting minutes for the last runner in the boys’ race to come in, they went out to find him on the course and ran with him until he reached the stretch where the crowd was. At that point, they disappeared into the mass so the boy would get the cheers.

Meet after meet, practice after practice, I have watched this team go out of their way to show good sportsmanship. They do not do it with impressing others in mind. They do it because it is who they are. It is second nature to support one another – regardless of the team.

Leadership within the team is amazing. It is often the voice of each other they find to be the most powerful. Today it was the voice of an 8th grade boy. During the walk-through of the course, he talked to me about the boys not taking the meets seriously. The amount of respect he has from the boys is huge. Knowing this, I encouraged him to talk to them when the girls were running. He did. Whatever he said worked. For the first time this season, the boys finished a meet in first place. I believe it has everything to do with the way he brought them all together. I thanked him as he was packing up to go home. He gave me the most beautiful smile I have ever seen from him.

Beginning runners are gaining more and more confidence with each meet. I am really bad about giving them their times after each run. Yet each time they run, they are improving. Runners that used to finish in the last five are now finishing in the top 75% in each race. The smiles as they cross the finish line are what I bring home from each meet. The seasoned runners continue to improve, while mentoring the beginners.

So what is it that is making this team so amazing? Is it my coaching? I hardly think so. While I play a small part, so does the positive attitude that each one of them brings to anything we do, whether it be a practice spent running hills or a meet in 98 degree weather. The support of the parents plays a role as well. Parents provide rides to every practice and meet. They are there with cold towels and snacks. Between the three of us – runners, coaches, and parents – the positive energy is taking us to extraordinary places.

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