For multiple cross-country seniors, they just ran their last high school race. The Cross Country season wrapped up at the Nike Cross Regionals in South Dakota on Nov. 1. Even though it’s over, seniors reminisced about their experience from the last four years.
Senior Teegan Kralik has been a varsity runner since his freshman year and the number one runner on the boys team the past two years. Kralik said this season was full of highs and lows.
“This season definitely [had] some ups and downs,” he said. “I set a bunch of course records, which is what I wanted to do, but unfortunately fell a little bit short at the state cross country meet.”
At the state meet, Kralik placed 25th with a time of 16:01.1, according to Athletic Live. Throughout his final season, Kralik broke nine course records and now holds the school record with a time of 15:46.
Kralik said he learned valuable lessons from cross country.
“It’s definitely just given me a lot of discipline; just pushing myself as hard as I do in cross country makes you have a lot of pain tolerance in everything else,” he said. “I mean, if you’re working your absolute hardest, then you really can’t do anything harder.”
When reflecting on the past four years, Kralik said the relationships he built stood out.
“It’s definitely unlike anything else because these aren’t just people that you’re on a team with and go through practices with; these are people you run literally thousands of miles with and spend hours and hours with,” Kralik said. “So you really have that close bond where you’re pushing each other through things.”
Pearl Brown said she shared the same sentiment.
“This is kinda a funny way to put it, but it’s like a trauma bond,” Brown said. “Going through really hard workouts just makes you even more connected because you’re also constantly sharing how you’re feeling. That open communication helps your relationship grow.”
Brown has been a varsity runner since ninth grade and made it to state for the first time this year. She said being able to finally break through to state felt great.
“I was a placement away each year the past 3 years, and this year we finally made it to state,” she said. “So I’m definitely feeling a lot of gratitude for being able to make it to state because a lot of people don’t get the opportunity.”
Brown said her approach to her senior year was different from previous years.
“I just put it all out there this year,” she said. “I knew I was not going to do cross country in college, so I think knowing that there’s not going to be another year meant I should just do everything I can to be as good as I can be this year.”
Sam Parker was a three-year varsity runner and the number two runner for the boys team. Parker said he was delighted with his senior season.
“I was really happy with how the season went,” he said. “I feel like I was definitely moving up throughout the entire season. I feel like that’s something to be proud of, to see your training work.”
Parker said cross country has helped him fight through adversity.
“I got diagnosed with asthma my freshman year, and that sucked,” he said. “I was pretty sad at that because it was going to be really annoying, and it has been. But if I can overcome something like that – if I can run cross country while having asthma – I feel like being able to push through something like that makes it easy to push through anything else. Pushing through eight-mile runs at a six-minute pace in the summer when it’s 90 degrees makes it really easy to go home and do homework because this is better than going outside and running.”
Parker said he’s happy with how he ended his cross-country career.
“I love cross country and I’m going to miss it,” he said. “But I think I made the most of it, and I’m not sad that it’s done, I’m just going to miss it.”
