From practicing every day except Sunday, getting together for team dinners once a week and dedicating two to four hours a day running, the girls cross country team works hard to fulfill their goal to win state. Along with working hard, they also help and encourage one another while growing closer as a team, according to junior captain Sophia Roach.

Although some might think XC is a individual sport, these athletes are actually very close with one another and encourage each other to do their best.

“I’ve made so many friendships and memories with my team,” senior Kyla Woods said. “I love my girls and I’ll always have their back because I know they have mine.”

To prepare for the meets, the girl’s team physically trains by running up to 42 miles a week and waking up at 6 a.m. on the weekdays to practice. Also, they get together for team dinners at different runner’s houses two days before each meet. In doing this they are hoping that it will help the athletes become comfortable with each other in a non-running environment.

“To physically prepare for meets I make sure I get plenty of sleep and carb load at our team dinners,” Woods said. “To mentally prepare I always talk to my parents and my team before my race and they usually give me a cliché pep talk, but they legitimately work.”

The team is preparing to go the distance this season and has already won multiple titles. At their last meet, the Elite Varsity girls team won, and and they are looking to trying their hardest to go all the way to state.

“I look forward to watching the girls do their very best this season,” Roach said. “I want us to keep racing as long as there are still races.”

As well as team goals, individual runners have plans for what they want to accomplish this season.

“My goals for the remainder of the season are simple, I just want to be back on varsity by district,” Woods said. “Until then I don’t mind running against the JV runners because I’m just racking up medals every week, which is something I never got to experience on varsity.”

Saturday, Sept. 23 they have a bye week, but starting the following week, they have a meet every week until they don’t qualify anymore. Their next meet is the Nike South Invitational in The Woodlands on Sept. 29 and 30. Visit their website http://www.cpxctrack.com/home.html to find more information about the meets and their locations.