Cross Country isn’t like a typical sport. There’s no scores or points you have to strive for, there’s no teammates to help you or place blame on if you don’t do well. Cross Country is purely about driving yourself forward. ‘Running Cross Country is not easy. It requires motivation, determination, and mental and physical toughness. This team displays these attributes every time they go out there,’ Coach Kenny Bushling says.

I asked XC runners Logan Sampson and Sebastian Stallone what keeps them moving forward when running. One (quite simply) answered, ‘the person behind me,’ and the other stated, ‘I keep running because I want to know I did better than last time.’ From day one, you’re told that your mind will give out before your body does. Your mind is going to be shouting that you need to stop or that you’re at your limit and done, even if your body can go a little bit further. It’s reasons like these that make Cross Country not only a physical sport, but an even bigger mental sport. You have to train your brain to push farther and keep going.

Coach Bushling’s final statement, ‘Every day I am impressed with the effort put in by each member of the team,’ sums up everything that makes Cross Country: effort.