by Mac Paquette | Sports Writer
The Johnson cross country season has officially started with the Southwest meet, taking place at Southwest high school. Johnson Junior Emily Bandy finished first overall with a time of 18:28:97, with senior Krista Andreasson finishing sixth with a time of 19:13:00.
“It felt great to be able to finish first, it’s great to see your hard work pay off in the form of a first place finish,” junior Emily Bandy said.
The Jaguar cross country runners had been preparing for their first meet through the spring and summer months of 2013, and the rigorous training and dedication that the runners gave to their sport paid dividends for the team.
“Running every day in the summer really paid off, I had to plan my speed workouts on Monday and Wednesday. Also to help my progress I ate very healthy and had to drink plenty of water. I have definitely felt a difference in my performance from last year to this year,” junior William Baca said.
The team looks to improve over last season’s very impressive year, which may seem like a difficult feat, but the runners on the 2013 team are up for the challenge.
“We can improve by improving our tempo, and we can also run with people that are determined to do well, just like myself, but I feel like we can definitely reach what last year’s team accomplished,” Baca said.
Compared to other sports, cross country has a more individual type aspect to it which raises the competition level for the runners against not an opposing team of runners, but against themselves as well.
“My goals are to reach for a better time and better placing in every meet, as well as to help and motivate the other runners as best I can,” Bandy said.
The Jaguar cross country runners carried their success over into the next meet on September 7 at Blossom athletic center with the varsity boys tying for first place and the varsity girls finishing second overall.
“We definitely look forward to the rest of the meets, hopefully the girls can keep up their great success and us guys can step up just a little bit to match the success,” senior Robert Ford said.
