The girls’ cross country team has continued to improve throughout the season. The Gateway Athletic Conference (GAC) meet is on Oct. 10 at McNair Park. Sean Fowler, who coaches the cross country team, has high hopes this year. 

“We have a lot of strong athletes this year, and are expecting a lot of athletes to move up to varsity as the season goes on,” Fowler said.

Over the past couple years, the team has had a decrease of athletes joining, which is one of the struggles that the team perseveres through. The lower number of athletes affects GACs by not filling all the varsity spots, which can reflect on how FHN performs at GACs. Currently, FHN has two varsity athletes on the girl’s team, but that number is flexible, and usually increases as the season progresses.

“We seem to have in all various sports less participation among students at North. The coaches and I look forward to helping change that,” Fowler said.

To prepare for this meet, athletes are working hard in practices so they can come out on top. Ellie Miller, an athlete for the team, hopes to perform well at GACs.

“Working hard at practice helps build speed, endurance and strength,” Miller said.

Getting to run a course more than once allows the runners to better pace themselves and mentally plan for an aggressive final push around the last bend of the race. FHN’s cross country team competes in this course three times this season, so that gives an advantage to the team. While the familiar course will help, Fowler says there’s something else than can help the runners reach their potential. 

“Mentality is a big component when running, and even if you are a good runner, you will never succeed if you quit,” Fowler said.