Despite the difficulties of only having ten people on the Varsity Cross Country team, Coach Shawn Ryan says it was a successful season.
Team chemistry is important for any sports team and the Varsity Cross Country team doesn’t shy away from it. Creating team chemistry can be just as important as the team victories. One of their most notable victories was at the Bald Eagle Invitational.
“We had Hannar Sahr take second place and a couple other athletes earned the top spots in that race. I feel like the competitiveness of that race is a bit more suitable for our team versus WPIAL championships and some of the bigger meets,” Coach Ryan said.
These successes can be linked to having a full team. Being able to roster a full girls and boys team is something new for Coach Ryan. He believes it was made possible due to the program at Shaler Area Elementary School.
“Coach Himes runs a special program, and in the past she would cap it at forty runners,” Coach Ryan said. “This year we were well over one hundred because we supported her. I believe it’s a big component of building the middle school program.”
Last year the middle school boys team had under five boys. This year they rostered sixteen boys. Coach Ryan hopes this program will continue to build the cross country team.
“Getting kids into cross country can be hard. Cross Country is a difficult sport. When you tell a high school age kid that you’re going to run twenty to thirty to forty miles a week, and then run a 5K once a week, that’s a challenge in itself,” Coach Ryan said.
As challenging as it is to roster a full cross country team, there are some benefits to having a small team, such as forming close bonds with your teammates.
“The team has always been small, but we are so close with each other that it isn’t a problem. Running has helped me make so many friends and I am really going to miss all of my friends when they graduate,” junior Kaylee Graf said.
Although there are benefits to having a smaller team, there are also some downsides. Cross country scoring is complicated. In prior years WPIAL and PIAA allowed ghost running, which allowed teams to score with less than five runners. This year, WPIAL and PIAA decided to ban this rule. Although both the girls and boys teams were able to fully roster their team, there were times that someone would be out.
“In cross country you need five people to be considered a full team and to be scored. There have been occasions where we didn’t run all five just due to injuries. When you don’t have five runners on the start line and five runners that finish, we can’t score them,” Coach Ryan said.
Overall this season, the team has pushed through many adversities but has been successful in many aspects. Not only were they successful on the racing aspect but the team’s roster has grown and the middle school team is looking strong.
“I’m really happy with how hard the kids work and how committed they are. It’s been really enjoyable to watch them grow and develop,” Coach Ryan said.
