Girls’ Cross Country Shows Promise for Next Season

The girls’ cross country team had quite the season this past fall. Although their record was not among the strongest this year, the girls all performed well individually. This season allowed the new runners to get a feel for the sport, and it provided the more experienced runners with an opportunity to get some more competition training in preparation for future seasons.

A talented group of girls formed the squad this year, and as always, they were cheerleaders for their teammates. “The team was really energetic and supportive of each other,” prep runner Christine Hu said. “We had a great mix of personalities that meshed well together, and I think that helped our performances in races because there was such a strong network of support within the team.” 

“We were a really tight team that had great energy,” lower Stajz Saar said. “Our team was always upbeat and motivated to work hard at practice and during races, and we always cheered each other on.” 

The girls had a positive atmosphere during both meets and races. Whether their teammate was the fastest runner on the team or a novice, there would always be a pack of other girls cheering her on. 

Big Red also prided themselves on their toughness. “Cross country's all about who can put themselves through the most pain, and that's what I love the most about it,” Hu said. 

Saar felt that Exeter’s girls overcame all the struggles for a successful season. “Even though it's a tough sport, the group of girls is amazing. They put all of their energy into running hard and supporting the team,” she said.

The girls all put great effort into their practices and meets. “Everyone on the team made huge contributions throughout the season, so it's hard to choose just one person who did well.” Hu said. “Uppers Elsa Chinburg and Michaela Morris were consistently the top runners during the season, and Yoshiko Lynch and Sarah Brown made the varsity team as preps, which is a pretty big achievement.” 

The girls, especially some of the preps, gained valuable experience, running against more experienced runners at Interschols. Going against tougher competition, the lowerclassmen focused on watching the ways the more experienced girls took on the course—ready to add their tricks to their own repertoires. ”Interschols was an amazing race to be a part of. The atmosphere and competition was great. It was fun running against fast people from a bunch of schools in New England, especially Anoush Shehadeh, who is a beast,” Hu said. 

The girls’ team also did a better job at Interschols this year than they have in previous years. This surplus of younger, stronger runners signals a new era for the team, and hopefully the girls will continue to improve in the same fashion as they have been so far.

“I think there are a lot of dedicated younger runners who will help take the team to a new level, and it's exciting to think how much talent there will be within the team for the next few years,” senior captain Anika Ayyar said. “I am excited to see how the team does at Interschols next year. 

Big Red also boasted a strong team chemistry this season. “The team really clicked and helped push each other to be the fastest we could be,” Hu said. “We had a pretty good season this year, but I think we have the potential for a lot of improvement next year.” 

Ayyar shared Hu’s sentiments. 

“I love that even though cross-country is an individual sport—to some extent, the team dynamic is still really huge. Especially in workouts, it makes an enormous difference that you are running with your teammates, and motivating each other, instead of just running by yourself,” Ayyar said.

This idea motivates many cross country runners. The camaraderie that comes with suffering through a workout brings the squad together and forms friendships that are tough to find elsewhere. 

Hu was among the top runners on the team, and did a lot to help the team to the place that they ended up. “Christine Hu was consistently at the top this season,” Saar said. “Elsa Chinburg was also at the top, and she definitely helped motivate me during some of the harder workouts of the season. Michaela Morris was also a great performer, and it was her first season running cross country so that was really fun to see.” 

This season, the team tried to focus their workouts on helping the girls compete, and to excel in meets. “This year we did a lot more race-specific workouts,” Ayyar said. “For example, one practice, we just focused on running specific parts of the course that we knew were challenging during races. We split up into groups, and each group switched between the various parts of the course, working out tactics that would help us push through those parts when we were actually racing. Workouts like that, where we could directly apply our training to the home races, were really useful.” 

The girls will kick off another great season next fall, captained by current uppers Elsa Chinburg and Clara Hobbie. “I'm looking forward to more races and opportunities to run fast! I'm really pumped to spend another term running everyday with my teammates. I'm also excited for Elsa and Clara to be captains—I think they'll make cross country a blast, just like Anika and Valerie did this year,” Hu said, excited for another season of cross country.