Lincoln’s cross country team has been swiping the competition with girls cross country winning the championship (BVALS) and qualifying for CCS Finals! Cross country is a sport in which teams or individuals run a race on large open tracks over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. At every meet an average of 2-3 miles has to be completed, and it has to be done in less than 20 minutes if an athlete wants to be placed high in the ranking.Not only is it exciting for girls, Mateo Anaya, a freshman, on the boys cross country team, individually qualified to compete at the CCS Championships.

Girls and boys cross country team smiling for the picture. This was taken after one of their challenging meets. Photo from @WillieCabrera on Instagram.At the start of the season, captain: Willie Cabrera, a senior said that he, “had average expectations for the upcoming season, we no longer had Omar Pina (a senior last year) and our runners weren’t really trailing so we had a lot of work to do.” However, according to the girls cross country captain: Sinahy Fragoso-De la Paz, a senior, mentioned that “the boys and girls really did want to make it into CCS, so we had to make sure that we would work hard in every practice and try to compete at every meet that we could attend, making sure that we put our all into this sport.” During their interview Lion Tales asked what it took to be successful in cross country, and Willie Cabrera, a senior, said that, “cross country and its difficulty really depends on the person, but overall it’s all about the mentality. For example, having a positive mindset and believing in yourself that you can complete a certain race is the way to go.” 

When asked about winning championships, Sinahy Fragoso-De la Paz, a senior, clarified that, “We weren’t so sure that we would win Championships at first since one of our runners got injured and she wasn’t going to be able to compete alongside us.” Even though they were short one runner, the girls won and qualified for CCS, the girls captain was then asked her predictions, and she said, “we definitely have tough competition, I do believe that one of our girls can make it to state, but overall it’s pretty unpredictable, because really anything can happen, but I know my team is going to put all their effort into this race.” 

As for Mateo Anaya, a freshman, I asked him about how he felt about being the only boy for cross country qualifying for CCS, he said that it felt,“exciting, but nervous because it is a big race and I’m running against other varsity cross country players from different schools.” For being his first year on the team, I wanted to know what led to his success, he said, “my coach, Kenneth Ghert, pushed me really hard and the team was really encouraging which made me want to do more and reach new limits.” When asked about his predictions about CCS he said, “I think I’m going to do pretty well, I’m going to try my best. I’m not expecting to get first or top 10, but I’m going to make sure to enjoy it.” For his goals, it is “to cross the finish line and overall be proud of myself.” 

Congrats to all who qualified for CCS and for all who competed at BVALS!