A new season for Allen High School’s cross country runners is just around the corner. The boys and girls teams are coached by head coach Jon Cockroft, and new assistant coach Christopher Blakeley. 

“Within our next cross country season, coach Cockroft and coach Blakeley will be training and coaching us,” sophomore Reese Addison Oswald said. “I am open to any new coaching styles to improve in any way. Different styles allow the team to improve in a variety of ways throughout the cross country training.” 

This is Blakeley’s first year coaching cross country at Allen. The primary sport he coaches is boys basketball.

“I’m looking forward to making tons more memories with these amazing people,”  junior Ashton Adams said. “The girls team in particular has gotten close within themselves and it’s just amazing to have other people to lean on. I’m also really excited for our team dinners. Every Thursday before a meet one of the parents hosts the whole team at their house with food. We can swim or play basketball and get to spend time together growing closer as a team.”

Currently, the team meets every weekday at 6:30 a.m. to practice together. The team started practicing back in the beginning of June.

“We start summer practice on June 5 with easy runs and speed workouts,” junior Avery Adams said. “We also meet sometimes for long runs on Saturday. I want to work on a lot of hills to be ready for districts, which is our hilly course.”

The athletes competed against each other in a race called the Time Trail to start the season back in August. In this race, everyone’s speed was timed so the coaches can place athletes on certain teams accordingly. 

“Time Trail is like a tryout,” Avery Adams said. “It’s basically where coach times us running the 5,000 loop by the school to see who makes varsity and JV (junior varsity) for the first meet. After the first meet it’s the times of the previous meet that determines who is on varsity or JV for the next meet.”

One of the competitions takes place all the way in Arkansas this September.

“This upcoming season, our varsity team will be traveling to the Arkansas Chili Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Saturday, September 30,” Oswald said.

In the sport of cross country, there are important key factors that can help an athlete succeed according to one of the athletes Ezra River Ramirez.

“The most important thing to remember is your breathing,” junior Ezra River Ramirez said. “I hear lots of people talk about how their heart rate got up to 200+ [bpm] and it’s just not good for them. So working on not needing to huff and puff while running is really important.”

Both cross country teams train together during practices and meets.

“My favorite thing about [cross country] is how you are constantly trying to improve yourself and help your teammates around you improve,” Ashton Adams said. “In cross country, you are racing other people, but really you are racing yourself trying to get a faster time than the meet before. It’s amazing how everyone cheers everyone on while they’re not running and it’s like our team turns into a cheering squad. It’s so motivational when cross country is such a mental sport because your mind is constantly telling you to stop.”

Dicipline is said to be a key factor to the world of cross country according to one of the athletes on the team.

“The only thing you need besides proper training is discipline,” Ramirez said. “You don’t need any type of motivation. Motivation won’t get you that far because what happens when you wake up after a long day and you’re not motivated? That’s where you need discipline. You need to continue to train when you don’t want to. Anyone can become a cross country runner, but only a few people work hard enough to become good.”