Everyone knows what it feels like to fall short by an inch. I guess the moral of the lesson is to pick yourself up off your feet and keep going. I wish it were that easy to do. For me, I realized how important a ‘team’ is through Cross Country.

On Saturday, October 21st, I traveled along with the Cross Country team to Kiel for their Sectional Invitational. Over the course of the meet, I watched as their boisterous enthusiasm turned to nervous tears. I wanted them to move on to State so badly, but after finding the results, it was a no-go. I felt sad for our varsity team because I knew they had worked so hard and wanted it so badly.

It was our team that worked together, pushed each other, and learned. During the season, our victories were sweeter when we earned them together. When we didn’t run our best, we still kept running forward, in practices and in meets. So seeing my fellow teammates miss State hurt me too.

Many people have told me that Cross Country is a different kind of sport. I’m beginning to see what they mean. It takes a team to be successful, and although it sounds cliché, there is no ‘I’ in team. Although I am yet a junior, I see I will miss Cross Country and the people I ran with. I learned and grew so much.

I’d like to thank the people I’ve run with for the past two years in Cross Country for being supportive and cooperative, and I’d like to thank the coach, for being the best coach to work with; serious and humorous. I wish it could