After a successful few months, the JV Cross Country team has reached the end of their season.
Both the JV Boys and JV Girls Cross Country teams had an extremely strong season. Though the Varsity team’s season continues, it appears that they will finish their season with great success.
“I’m sure [the Varsity teams] will do well at state, as for JV we swept,” said JV Runner senior Eldon Mason.
The JV Boys team placed first at all MRL Cluster meets, and the Burroughs and JV Finals invitationals. At the Clovis Invite they placed 13th, and at the Mt. Sac invite, they placed fourth. The top placing JV Boys runners, sophomore Chase Rogers and freshman Quan Laskey, went on to act as alternates for the Varsity Boys team. The JV Girls, though a small team, put in great amounts of effort, reflected in their Burroughs Invite first place score, and their second place score at the MRL Cluster Invite #1: Sultana. Though they did not have enough athletes to place as a team at the other races, they still showed their strength at meets through individual placings, often in the top ten.
Many of the runners had personal goals, with most being achieved.
“My personal goals this season were to enjoy myself and finish my high school cross-country [career] strong,” said Mason.
The JV teams developed many skills throughout the season, improving both their mental and physical endurance to help push themselves through difficult races.
“Cross Country has some skill but is majorly focused on discomfort, the more discomfort you can put yourself in over 20 minutes the better you will do at cross country,” said Mason. “The sport is essentially a constant mental battle where if for even one moment your brain loses to your body you slow down.
Though the JV season is over, the Varsity team continues onto CIF. On Saturday, Nov. 11, both the Varsity Boys and Girls teams ran at the CIFSS Prelims. The boys placed first as a team, and the girls placed fourth, meaning both will continue onto CIFSS Finals.
