This season, the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams are working on renewing and rebuilding their runners. Their first races were held Tuesday, August 15th and Saturday, August 19th. Head coach Jordan Ousley was happy with his athletes.

“I think the runners did well,” he said. “I am not disappointed at all.”

The goal for this year is to get the entirety of the team to regionals. Runners have already shown improvement in their first two meets. Conner Frederick held a 50 second PR. Frederick had a big breakthrough, and is becoming more confident in his running.

“I’ve moved up a lot in running this season. I want to see how the other good runners are, and what they’re doing,” he said.

Last season’s regional qualifying runner, Kelton Serra, is in his seventh year of cross country is hoping to improve from last year and hopes to, “… break my personal record from last season.” Serra believes the whole team can make it to regionals.

Cooper Cage is a sophomore, and in his first year of cross country. He has already brought the Wildkats to the winning path, placing seventh overall in the team’s first 5k, with a time of 17:16. Cage says,

“I loved it… I saw the time on the clock and I was happy,” he said.

Serra and Frederick came in next, as the other varsity runners Gabe Newland, Preston Arreola, and Braxton Frederick rounded out the race.

This is a sport that involves a lot of physical effort, but also mental toughness. The runners must train hard and race harder while running over natural terrain. If you are interested in running cross country or joining the KHS cross country team, sophomore runner Morgan Rakestraw gave this advice.

“It’s gonna be hard and you’re gonna get hurt, but to get better you have to push through the pain,” she said.

Teammate Christina Durham, who is in her first year of cross country, agrees.

“Do your workouts. If you don’t do them you will regret it, and the races will be even harder,” she said.

The boys’ and girls’ cross country teams travel to Harrison High School to compete in the Harrison Invitational Saturday.