By Fiona Fehrman
Riverside Cross Country’s race season jumps into gear tonight when the team travels to Kernersville, NC for “Friday Night Lights.”
The cross country (XC) festival will host 4,000 athletes. Riverside’s co-head coach Jason Page is excited because this meet gives everybody an opportunity to run. There are also multiple races, so it will be a chance for athletes to see each other run.
Pirate runners are also excited to see temperatures expected to drop below seventy degrees.
“It’s cooling down and it will be our first real meet of the season,” says sophomore Izzy Halpern.
Something that makes this year’s team different from the past is the large number of freshmen. Page says that something he loves about XC is seeing the younger runners grow throughout the season.
“They surprise themselves, and do things you didn’t think they could do,” he said.
Some members of the team are worried about the gap between seniors and underclassmen, especially with an eye on next year.
“We don’t have enough growing leadership on the team,” said sophomore Alex West.
Sophomore Josh Starin also said next year’s team is going to need some strong leaders.
But the young runners have great runners like senior Connor Tyrell to learn from this year. Tyrrell finished 4th at the state meet last year and said his big goal for this season is to win states.
Runners shared various other goals, too Halpern wants to drop one minute off of her five kilometer time. Freshman Baylis Healy’s goal is to make varsity and senior Maya Gadde just wants to stay healthy and not get injured.
Healy thinks that the team’s strong bond will help carry them through the season.
“We know each other pretty well, so we can tell when something is wrong,” she said.
In addition to Friday Night Lights, Riverside will host East Chapel Hill and Hillside in a home meet on Sept. 25.
