10/17/24 Highlight: Cross Country

By ETHAN DAI, IAN KOO, and JAYDEN OH

Photo Courtesy of @phillipsexeterxctf

On Oct. 19, for the first time in three weeks, the cross country team will participate in a meet. During this hiatus, many cross country runners took advantage to recover from any injuries. This year’s team has so far proved to be a strong team.

At the last meet, Coe-Brown, Exeter’s junior varsity teams all scored first place, beating Andover. However, this year’s team also faced many injuries. Luckily the last three weeks have given the team enough time to recuperate and prepare.

In addition to running, runners also cross trained in the gym. Even uninjured players have been using this period to reach their full potential. Prep and member of the team, Bo Howland-Valhaikis, was lucky enough to go mostly uninjured, but was also able to recuperate to be in his best condition this season.

Unfortunately, some runners met the end of their season as early as the first month. Prep Ethan Dai said, “I am basically out for the rest of the season, since I fractured my left ankle during training. It probably takes more than a month to heal.”

Injury during the race was also not uncommon. At Coe-Brown, prep Abby Rogers strained her left calf and was forced to take a break from running. However, thanks to the three week break, she may be able to participate again in the last few races of the season. Rogers found the trainers to be helpful. “They figured out what my injury was and have given me rehab and ways to get better,” she said.

Despite these incidents and set-backs, the trainers have helped many of the runners recover from injuries, and the team remains optimistic about the rest of the season. “Thanks to the trainers, if I rest my leg properly and do the exercises the trainers have given me, I will be able to return to running,” said Rogers. “I want to get back to running so much because it is so fun and the team is amazing and nice.”

Similarly, Prep Ian Koo was able to run with the help of the trainers. “Thanks to the leg brace and exercises they provided, I was able to run at Coe-Brown with a sprained ankle and not have any issues afterwards,” he said.

The team is looking forward to the rest of the season and has a lot of faith in each other, as well as hope that they will have a strong end to the season.