Cross country has sights set on post-season glory
The Samo cross country team is now halfway through the season and has been putting in the hours to improve upon where they stood a few months ago. Both the boys’ and girls’ varsity teams are on an upward trajectory and are looking sharp for a chance at state.
Jamie Fiore / Contributor
Kingsley Lin (’27) finishing the last 400 meters of his race head strong at Mount. Sac Invitational.
At the beginning of this season, varsity made a strong impression by winning their three meets at San Antonio College, Dana Hills High School and Brentwood High School. Those early performances set extremely positive tones for the rest of the season, launching them into success. The Vikings have maintained their momentum and show no signs of slowing down.
So far, the cross-country teams have competed in a total of ten meets. Moving forward, cross country has the Ocean League Finals on Nov. 5, followed by California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) preliminaries and championships.
Competing in the Clovis International on Oct. 10 and 11 at Woodward Park has given the varsity teams a trial run before running the state meet in a few weeks time. Since state is also held at Woodward Park, the participants of this meet were able to experience what they're hoping to do, when it really counts in November.
Girls’ varsity runner Crystal Gaitan (’26) explained Clovis International as the most beautiful course she’s ever run. Gaitan explained the course as challenging with lots of hills, but worth it as it gave her a preview of what state is going to be like.
Gaitan also gave insights as to how the team is preparing for state after having run Clovis International.
“Last Saturday, we did a workout in Adelaide Hills near the Totem Pole and did seven miles of hills. We have also been doing hills near Marine Street,” Gaitan said.
The assistant coach, Katherine Saunders, gave great insight into what the team is going through leading up to finals.
“There have been some complicated moments lately. But all in all, I think that we have a lot of faith in our varsity, and that there’s a kind of excitement brewing under the surface about us being able to take our best, to go do their best and be the best we've ever had. So far so good,” Saunders said.
As Samo’s cross-country team nears the end of their season, tension builds, but the team remains positive. They continue to stay focused, confident and ready to finish strong. The time leading up to the team’s final performance has become a true nail-biter.