Despite hot weather challenges at the start of the school year, cross country teams at Crown Point High School are persevering in order to have a successful season.
“The recent hot temperatures were mostly avoided by holding practice in the morning,” Head Coach of Boys’ Cross Country Erik Forehand said. “If anything, the early morning practices develop some character within our guys.”
While the weather throughout the weeks has been rough, the meets that take place on weekends seem to be cooler.
“The weather for meets has been great so far. I can’t think of a meet that was oppressively hot, like it has been in the past. We have been lucky in regards to that,” Head Coach of Girls’ Cross Country Team Scott Coil said.
Athletes on the team have mixed reactions to the weather. “That was a really tough week to get through. Waking up at 4am was hard,” Senior Weston Hulen said. However, other athletes seem to believe the contrary.
“I did enjoy the morning practices because it was cooler and I felt more focused,” Sophomore Kamden Honickel said.
Many runners enjoy the productivity that morning practice brings with it.
“Having morning practice was fun because we could just go right home after school instead of staying longer,” Sophomore Jake Baumann said.
While the weather this season has definitely made it different than previous seasons, one thing that has stayed the same is the victories the teams have received. The Girls’ Cross Country Team finished 2nd at the Bob Thomas meet, putting up a good fight against Lake Central, which many didn’t think the team could do. At the New Prairie Invite, the Freshman-Sophomore division showed their strength as they received first place at the meet.
Coaches are proud of what their teams have accomplished this season. “There were things we needed to work on fixing within our team in how we functioned from the 2022 season,” Coach Forehand said. “The guys have made some strong strides in the right direction this year.”
It isn’t only the boys’ team that the coaches are proud of. “They have great internal motivation to get better, which makes my job a lot easier,” Coach Coil said.
