Girls cross country is off and running after its first meet of the season on Sep. 4. With a diverse team ranging through many grades, the team looks for success in its short one-and-a-half month-long season. But with multiple injuries plaguing the varsity athletes, the season had been off to a challenging start. 

“I started off the season really rough with an injury, and I am still recovering from it, which has put me behind in my times for meets. I think that my individual goal would be to not get injured again and try to take care of myself the best I can so that the rest of the season goes well,” junior runner Isabel Maiewski said. 

With an emphasis on mental, emotional and physical health during the season, practices typically vary between easy runs (three to six miles) and timed trials combined with weight training. During these practices, teammates value teamwork despite the individual nature of the sport. 

“You know everyone is working so hard together, and when they see everyone else working too, hard around them, it’s like, ‘How could they not go out there and give it everything they got?’ And just being smart [with] training. [When] we tell them, [it] isn’t easy in the long run, they’re listening,” varsity coach Rosette Ochoa said. 

Because girls cross country has an extremely short season, each meet is crucial. Like many sports, cross country is as mentally demanding as it is physically and keeping the right mindset during a meet could mean the difference between failure and success. 

“During meets, I need to remind myself how well I am doing or how proud I should be of myself in regards to running. The team, in general, is very welcoming and always kind to each other, and that is one of the reasons I love running for EGXC (Evanston Girls Cross Country).” Maiewski said. 

With a team-centric mindset and strong varsity runners, EGXC looks to dominate in future meets. You can catch them at the Warren Township Invite Saturday, Sept. 18.