Cross Country Team Hoping to Start a Run of Success

RAINIER QUILALA

STAFF WRITER

The Alhambra cross country team has been working hard every day to be the best that they can be. The Moors had an invitational tournament on Sept. 8 at the Brookside Country Club at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. No member was able to bring home a medal despite the team’s efforts. In response, they plan to practice even more to do better next time.

“As a team we are all determined to do great for this season in cross country,” Varsity Captain Dasani Zavala said. “We help root for each other knowing that we can and will grow stronger both as a team and as individual runners.”

The invitational meet consisted of a three mile race around the golf course. It involved about 200-300 runners from various schools. The first 30 finishers received medals and the top schools also won trophies. Despite putting up a good fight, Alhambra did not have any players finish at the peak. It was a tough day for them but the season is far from over.

Cross country is seen as a very tough sport  that requires extreme stamina and a great amount of grit and determination. Even though the Alhambra atheletes did not do as well as usual, they practice daily in order to improve.

“We have been preparing since July and have been practicing five to six days a week,” varsity runner Alyssa Romero said, “Whenever we go to practice, the one goal we have in mind is to get better as individuals and as a team.”

The cross country team has been practicing since summer. In their daily practices, they run about 3-4 miles a day and occasionally run 6-7 miles. The team often goes to parks or other locations in Alhambra or Pasadena and then back to school. Practices can prove to be very challenging because they run no matter how scorching hot it may be. In addition, they do not drink water to refresh themselves during practice to avoid cramps and injuries. At the end of the day, all the hard work that they put in during practice will prepare them more for their future competitions. With each mile they run, they are hoping to improve and get ready for their next meet.

The Alhambra runners performed reasonably well at the event. Even though nobody was able to collect a medal, they showed  heart and determination. They also proved that they have a great amount of potential for the future.

At the end of the day, no matter how hard each practice may be, no matter how tough each stride was, how physically and mentally draining each mile may have been, they gave it everything that they had and plan to for the rest of the year.

The team’s next invitational meet is on Oct. 6 at Huntington Beach.