On October 21, the cross country team will be off to the races at Koch Park in Florissant, MO. The team will be competing in the 2017-18 Districts meet with the goal of advancing to sectionals and then to state, not only as individual athletes, but as one whole team.

“My hope is that both teams [boys and girls] make it out of districts,” cross country head coach Kim Martin said. “I really want them both to at least finish within the top four teams. Hopefully the girls will get first.”

With these high goals, the athletes have had to back up their goals with their high energy, high effort training. These athletes not only have been preparing during the season but have also put in extra practice time whenever and wherever they can. Having worked so hard this season, the athletes can take extra precautions for Districts to make sure they are physically prepared for the meet.

“Before Districts, we aren’t pushing ourselves quite as hard in practice so we’re in the best shape possible for that meet because that means a lot more than all the other meets,” senior and cross country captain Ben Jamison said.

Being physically prepared is a large part of being ready to go head-to-head against their competitors, but being mentally prepared is also very important. Mental toughness in a cross country meet could result in advancing to sectionals or putting an end to the season. That being said, the team takes their mentality seriously and they try to be as prepared as possible.

“I really think practicing helps prepare,” senior Maggie Hillman said. “It mentally feels a lot easier once we’ve had a lot of meets under our belt.”