Page 77 - 2017 Yearbook

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Woodside Priory School 11/14/16 11:52 PM
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EAT MY DUST
BY: BETTY, SAMANTHA, JACEY
It is not uncommon for students leaving school to see circles of people on the field. Despite beliefs that these people are participating in mysterious, dark magic, they are actually stretching and preparing for their long distance runs. However, this year, these circles have grown dramatically. Mr. Lai, one of the team’s coaches, states that “it’s the biggest team we’ve ever had: 52 runners. It’s definitely the biggest Freshman class we’ve ever had. There’s 26 of them.” So exactly what was it that induced these Freshmen runners to join the team?
Some, like Justine Biscay (9), joined purely because "[they] like running cross country and [they] ran in middle school”, while others “joined cross country to fulfill requirements,” as Grant Whitman (9) did. Mr. Lai understands that while some people join because they love running, others join because “it’s a good thing to get involved in early on and meet many people, make other friends.” He “would be really happy if all of them continued.” At the very least, Jack Gainey (9) “intend[s] to continue running throughout all 4 years in high school.”
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Without looking too far into the future, running cross country as a Freshman is "fun," a word used countless times by the Freshmen when describing cross country. The great times are ascribed to the “awesome coaches” and “great captains” Jack Gainey (9). Viansa Schmulbach (9) describes them, saying “both the coaches and captains are very encouraging and kind, but will push you to your hardest. They love to see improvement, and will always congratulate you no matter how well you do.”
The influx of Freshmen hasn’t changed the team dynamic that much. From Coach Lai’s perspective, “we spend more time talking about the course that we’re going to run each day. We spend more time dividing them up, so seeing who’s going how far. Other than that, we haven’t changed a whole lot.” Emma Lewer (11), who has previously been on the team, says “Having lots of freshman hasn’t changed the team dynamic too much, though, except for the fact that we simply have a lot of new faces on the team.” “We jog fast” says Grant Whitman (9,) but according to Mr. Lai, “cars always win.”