October is upon us, which means the cross country team is racing toward the finish line of the 2022 season. The team has competed in three major invitational meets: Friday Night Lights XC Festival in Kernersville, Adidas Cross Country Challenge in Cary and the Greensboro Invitational. 

Friday Night Lights was the team’s first 5k to kick off the season. Sophomore Abbey Collupy describes why the Kernersville course is her favorite.

“I prefer the course at Friday Night Lights because it is very easy to pass people and there are more downhills,” Collupy said.

Freshman Lily Alston feels similarly about the course.

“I really like the Friday Night Lights course because of how flat it was,” Alston said.

The team ran the WakeMed course in the Adidas Cross Country Challenge two weeks later.

“Wake Med I liked for the most part, other than the big hill at the very end that you have to go up twice,” Alston said.

Despite the infamous hill, WakeMed is sophomore John Callahan’s favorite course.

Out of the three invitationals, the Greensboro Invitational course at Hagan Stone Park is the most popular amongst the team.

“I liked the Greensboro Course. It felt quicker than many people described, and it was pleasantly shady,” Callahan said.

Junior Matthew Walker notes the nature of the Greensboro course sets the race apart from other invitational meets. 

“I feel like the race itself was different because of the absence of a crowd or teammates cheering you on during the race,” Walker said.

Many runners on the team were able to achieve their personal record times at Hagan Stone Park.

“I like the Greensboro course. It has some rolling hills, but overall it’s a good course. Everyone on the team ran fast times there, so that’s good,” senior Hayes Weatherman said.

For the varsity team, the remainder of the season will be focused on preparing for the conference and regional races. Collupy discusses what she hopes to accomplish by the end of the season.

“I am hoping to cut off at least 12 more seconds by regionals to get a sub 23,” Collupy said.

In addition to racing under a specific time, Alston hopes to improve her outlook on running.

“I would love to go sub 19:40 for a 5K. Other than that, I want to take some of the pressure off of myself,”

Although the season is not yet finished, the team is optimistic and feels they are making progress. Walker is eager to continue running faster times and achieving personal goals.

“I feel like I have been doing great with new PRs (personal records), but I still expect more to come.”