The girls cross country team at Woodland has been undefeated for the last three seasons. This includes being undefeated two years in a row for NVLs.
Head coach Jeff Lownds and assistant coach Ross Cooper have worked hard to get the girls to where they stand now.
Senior Crystal Steinfeld has been running for three years on the team, and has done very well since she joined. “She has definitely made a difference to the team,” said Cooper, “She’s one of our best runners.”
Coach Cooper also commented that he thinks that the team will come out on top for NVLs again this year, “All the credit really goes to Lownds,” Cooper added.
Lownds goes further than the average coach. He researches what the girls need to do to win, such as who the other racers are and provides pace improvement charts for each runner. He also helps the girls become not only physically stronger, but mentally. “Cross country is a very physically demanding sport, and there have been a lot of injuries this year,” Cooper explained. “It isn’t just running on a track. They run through the woods and up and down hills.”
When determining a score you only count the first five runners for each team, and even if you came in first it doesn’t mean you won the race.
You add together the first five places of your team and whichever team has the lowest score in the end is the winner. The team all together has eighteen runners and is working hard once again for the rest of this season meets and the NVLs, which will be held at Veteran’s park on Wednesday, October 20th
