The 2023-2024 Manitou Springs High School cross country season has just begun. The first official day of the season was Aug. 6, although they have been preparing for the season since early June.
Both men and women can participate in cross country, as it is an inclusive sport that welcomes all runners., “It’s different from a lot of other sports, as where the work that you put in is shown and you know it’s hard but yields results,” Andy Sherwood, coach at MSHS, said. This is his third season coaching the cross country team.
Being an individual driven sport as well, athletes can set individual goals and work to reach them by the end of the season. “You get a diverse perspective on the sport because everyone kind of thinks about it a different way,” Cody Kelley (12) said.
Although cross country is an individual driven sport, it has also been shown to be a great team building sport. The athletes feel encouraged by each other as well as the environment that is created within the team. “It’s a great group of guys and girls and we have great team chemistry making it really fun,” Kelley said.
MSHS has had a cross country team for many decades, but has rarely made it to state competition. Although the boys team had a breakthrough last season, “They went from not making the state meet in 25 years to finishing 11th and 20th last season and coming into this season ranked second in the state,” Sherwood said.
The girls team is looking very promising this year as the team has been training very hard, and has had some great additions to the team. “We have a really good team this year and I’m looking forward to hopefully making it to state,” Ellen Lowe (10) said.
With hope of making it to state, the athletes have been training all year long and with the help of new additions the season is looking great. “We have off-season training where we do runs except it’s all by yourself but there’s tons of clubs in the springs that do a lot of team running as well,” Kelley said.
While winning is the goal for every sport, Sherwood hopes the athletes will recognize how this sport is a good pursuit. “I hope that they all become runners well beyond their time in high school and recognize that it’s a lifelong sport,” Sherwood said.
