Running six to seven miles every day after school, Woodland’s Cross Country Team is encountering countless amounts of injuries and endless soreness on their journey to the NVL championship.

“By the end of each meet and practice everyone is exhausted but at the same time you want to push yourself and you want to work as hard as you can,” said senior captain, Bayan Galal. “It is exhausting but it is worth it in the end.”

Each of the runners on the cross country team have been practicing non-stop in order to complete their goals.

“When you’re running you’re really just focused on the course and whatever workout you have ahead of you,” said Galal. “It’s nice to be able to focus on that and embrace the workout.”

Cross country is a physical sport where you challenge yourself to run faster and improve your times, but it is just as much a mental sport. No one knows this better than senior captain, Greg Aldrich.

“[The hardest thing about cross country is] pushing your mind, because if you think about it too much you’re not going to be able to run faster because you’re thinking about how much your body hurts,” said Aldrich. “Sometimes you just have to take your mind off it and go.”

The runners are always preparing themselves in order to win the NVL championship. Senior captain, Kyle Crowell is excited to train with his teammates for all of the meets and to run at NVLs. Crowell also said that the team is loaded with many talented athletes and many new freshmen who each will play valuable parts in winning each competition.

Four-year runner, Nicholas Piscitelli knows that all of the running is worth it in the end.

“Running is a very hard thing to do,” said Piscitelli, “but at the end of the day, you’re going to look back at it and be very proud of yourself.”

Woodland’s next cross country meet is on Tuesday, September 25 at Watertown High School.