A Snowy Finish: 2020 Cross Country Recap
With an injury plague, fresh varsity squad, and a world-wide pandemic, no one knew what was going to happen at the beginning of the cross country season. The boys’ crew lost a good chunk of their top varsity squad through graduation; the girls’ team, who still made up a crew of experiences runners, put forth a large group who could beat each other, depending on the day. Junior Parker Fitzgerald, the top runner on the team this season, talked about his problem in the beginning: “My greatest challenge was coming back after a month off from an injury, but with the help and guidance of my team and physical trainer, I was able to overcome it and still do well this year.” Fresh out of all summer training, the team began drifting into season practices by slowly increasing in speed and distance. Jumping into the first races, both varsity teams displayed a taste of what was to come later on in the season.
The midseason race, Nike, was one of the biggest races of the year, on the best course, and it marked the beginning of the real potential of the season. Although the team had their good races and bad races, Mr. Genrich, the head coach, spoke highly about the continuous day by day improvement seen by both the boys and girls. Likely the top race of the year, Aberdeen hosted ESD came around near the end of the season and depicted the top team effort seen this season. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams put in their best effort to take a spot on the podium. Mr. Genrich mentioned, “Aberdeen early season race followed by the ESD meet in Aberdeen [was my favorite]. It was so much fun to get to talk about a course, race on it, feel success on it, and then take those ideas and formulate a plan to be the best teams we could be at the ESD meet late in the season.” State came in Rapid City, and so did the snow. That being said, the Harrisburg Cross Country team put in their full effort to wrap up the season and go out with a bang. Fresh out of the cross country season, the team’s focus shifted to track and winter training to increase in speed.
With next season training around the corner, Parker believes it’s time to start making goals based on this season’s performance. Already excited for next year’s season, Mr. Genrich explained his views and goals: “Our boys should be focused on a top 2 or 3 finish at the state meet next year. The girls should have a similar outlook.” Everyone on the team believes that with dedication, determination, and pure will, taking state next year is a reasonable goal.