Girls’ XC Finishes 3rd Despite Injuries
Girls’ cross country continued its impressive season at the Black Brown Invitational on Saturday, placing 3rd overall. Out of around 150 varsity competitors, uppers Yoshiko Lynch and Christine Hu finished 9th and 10th, respectively.
Two main hindrances stood in the way of Exeter’s success at the Black Brown Invitational. First, the course at which they ran was hilly and rocky, second, characteristics of a difficult running environment. Prep Ashley Lin described it as one of the toughest she has run in this season.
“Our practices have prepared us for most courses; however, I wasn’t prepared for the hills on the course that we ran on today as the trails that we have been running on in Exeter are much more flat and less rocky,” Lin said.
“Our goal for the rest of the season is to make sure everyone stays healthy, and for those who are currently injured, to recover as soon as possible. If we can get everyone running by interschols, we’ll have a chance at finally beating Andover.”
The second obstacle Big Red faced was injuries.Senior and captain Anna Barnes placed ‘staying healthy’ as one of the team’s main goals for the season. By accomplishing this, she explained, the team will be on its way to a successful season. “I think we need to work on getting the team focused and healthy,” she said. “We’ve had a few injuries and a lot of illnesses which have held people back from racing.”
Lynch added that those who are injured, such as Barnes, should focus on recovering as soon as they can. She said that without them, the team will be in a tough spot for the upcoming meets.
“Our goal for the rest of the season is to make sure everyone stays healthy, and for those who are currently injured, to recover as soon as possible,” she said. “If we can get everyone running by interschols, we’ll have a chance at finally beating Andover.”
In addition to the injuries, many of the healthier runners were drained from the number of recent meets: Wednesday against St. Paul’s and Saturday at the Maine Festival of Champions. Due to this, Lynch explained, the team hasn’t had much time to practice and hone its skills.
“This week, a lot of the girls didn't have much time to practice,” Lynch said. “I think we were also all pretty tired from racing three times in one week. At this last meet, a lot of us were exhausted before the race even started.”
Lin agreed, saying that her “legs felt heavy, and [she] was tired even before the race had even started. It was just one of those days.”
Although the conditions weren’t optimal, the girls performed extremely well. The time that they did have to train, in the midst of all the meets, proved beneficial to each runner’s time and mindset for endurance. “Training has really helped me not only prepare my muscles, but my mind as well,” upper Brianna Ko said. “Sometimes, running is as much of a mind challenge as it is a physical one.”
Ko explained that the goals for the rest of the season included “building up stamina” and “learning how to manage hills and not get stuck behind a pack of people.” But even more than that, she said, “I want to always challenge myself to give it my all.”
This race, which marks around the half-point of the season, is a testament to where the girls stand in the New England Cross Country world. At this pace, and with the recovering runners, the team believes they will be in good shape for the New England Championship race and Andover.
However, the team is focused on the upcoming race which will be held at Exeter. Lin said that this 3rd place finish pushes her to train even harder. “This race has motivated me to do my best to improve my performance for the rest of the season by eating better and training harder with my teammates, especially since there is a race during Parent’s Weekend at the end of this week,” Lin said.