The varsity cross country team has been going strong this season, recently placing second in their own Red Devil Invite, as well as first place in a mini meet at Glenbard West on Sept. 20.
“Our team has been doing really well,” said Cole Levin, the fifth runner on varsity. “We got second place at the Red Devil invite out of 25 teams, and now this upcoming Saturday, we’re competing at the Peoria Notre Dame Richard Spring Invitational, and hopefully we’ll contend for a plaque, which is top three.”
The team will be one of 75 teams competing at this invitational, so the stakes are high. To meet these stakes, the team puts a significant amount of miles on their feet per day.
“For our long runs, we’ll be doing around 12 miles,” Levin said. “[We do a] 7:30 minute pace, maybe a little slower. But for our hard workouts, we turn it up. We shoot for the six minute mile pace. I don’t think practice is too difficult, though. Before meets, we try and tone it down a little; on these days and recovery days, we try to do around six miles. Running with the pack always improves the pace, though.”
Running as a team is crucial to improving everyone’s speed, not just cheering each other on.
“We’re all racing for a common goal,” said Joey Costello, senior varsity runner. “We’re all feeling pretty bad mid-race. Nobody feels great. It’s the shared sense of suffering that makes us want to work together to do the best we can–the mental battle.”
Although the team usually places high, this year they’re driven to qualify for state after last year’s upset.
“We’re not focused on the past,” said Jim Westphal, boys head cross country coach. “We’re looking forward to not getting caught up in qualifying. We just take it meet to meet.”
The remainder of the season looks strong. The athletes say they plan to practice and take each meet one at a time as their coach advises.
“I’m very confident for the rest of the season,” Wesphal said. “We have upside. We have pieces in place where we can be very competitive, but, as in any sport, injuries could be the downfall. If one or two guys get injured and can’t compete, then it’s tough. But, who knows? You’re relying on the next man up, and you never know what potential they have. When Tom Brady was a backup to Drew Bledsoe and he was knocked out of the playoffs, Tom Brady stepped up, won the super bowl, and the rest is history.”
