Quantico Cross Country

        The time has come around once again for our Quantico runners to shine. The Quantico Cross Country team has been training since a week before school started on August 18th, and they will be starting their season this Saturday at the Chancellor Invitational. Through interviewing with the co-captain of  the cross-country girls, Clarabel Smith, and newcomer James Russ, I have the true definition of cross-country, the motivation behind the sport, why people do it, and how the season is projected to pan out.

        Clarabel Smith has been at Quantico Middle/High School (QMHS) for a total of 4 years and has been a part of cross-country for 3 of those years. She is currently 17 years old, is a senior, and she participates in many programs around the school and has many responsibilities. She describes cross-country as a different sport that isn’t necessarily as competitive as other sports, such as football and soccer, but still has the same pride and motivation that any athlete feels when they are playing their sport. Clarabel defines the main purpose of cross-country as a mean of self and team improvement, as you strive to assist your fellow runners to keep pursuing through the hardships and keep running until the finish line.

         Now, in order to develop this motivation and teamwork to be able to run efficiently throughout the season, the team had to prepare. They started practice before school started with some newcomers and veteran runners. For Quantico sports especially, since all students are military children, they don’t stay long. This means that many people leave Quantico even though they may have only been here for a year. The upside of this situation is that Quantico gains a lot of new people too, and the number of new people coming to QMHS is usually similar to the number of students lost. This year for cross-country,  they came in with 12 people total; half veteran runners and the other half newcomers.  One newcomer in particular, James Russ, is very motivated to enjoy a great season with the Quantico Cross-Country team. James Russ is 12 years old, is in eighth grade, and, along with about 5 others,  is experiencing his first year of cross-country.

        James explains that practice started on August 12th and that the practices are filled with conditioning, interval runs, 4-5 mile runs through the trails of Quantico, and learning about different techniques to keep a good pace and stay on your feet. Outside of their team practices, most of the runners take it upon themselves to improve their running techniques in jogging around base or working out their legs and core at the gym. “It all depends on an individual’s drive,” says Clarabel Smith. She goes onto explain that a runner’s determination will ultimately affect the overall feeling of enjoyment for the runner or if the individual will improve or not when racing. Fortunately for the team, all the runners and coaches are equally motivated, and it is projected for the cross country team  to do well this season.

        Through teamwork, self-determination, and motivation, the Quantico Cross Country team will once again prevail and fill their season with many wins. We all wish them luck and hope that they will race their hearts out and have a great time running.