by Melissa Fajardo ’13

Cross country is the second largest sport at Sherwood after the swim and dive team, which has the largest membership with 85 students. There are a total of 68 cross country runners, 46 boys and 22 girls. Many students may fail to recognize that for a handful of their peers, running is yearlong; cross country takes up in the fall, indoor track is during the winter and track and field in the spring. These three teams are often in the shadows of team sports that attract large crowds like football or basketball partially because of their popularity on the professional level.

Cross country is unlike most team sports in the sense that all the runners participate when they are entered in a meet. Football, soccer, baseball, lacrosse and basketball have a handful of players on the field or the court at a given time, but not the entire team. Cross country could be viewed as an individualistic sport as runners strive to beat their own time, but it is also a team effort because the team with the lowest total time wins.

Over the past three years, the cross country roster has begun with an average of over 80 boys and girls at the beginning of the season. As the season progresses, the number decreases for reasons such as injury or the sheer difficulty of the sport.

“Those who try out for cross country make one of two choices: either decide they can’t put up with it because cross country training is very challenging and difficult … or the new participants decide to stay because … they want to meet the challenge,” explained cross country Coach Dan Reeks.

Some runners join the team freshman year and others, like senior Matt Stitzlein, join later in their high school career. Stitzlein played JV football as a freshman and quit the following year.

“I quit because I didn’t think I had the right stature and it served me a disadvantage. So I turned to running instead,” recalled Stitzlein. He started running as a junior and began to realize that it was an activity he enjoyed and at the same time was something he was rather good at. Stitzlein is now a team captain as well as one of their top runners and placed 5th in the Great American Festival 5000 meter race on October 1 in Cary, NC.

Junior Vik Siberry is a runner that joined the team as a freshman and is one of the few that continue to run indoor track in the winter and then track in the spring.

“I don’t really know why I run all year. I guess it’s just because I like the competitive feeling and I have way too much energy when I don’t run,” said Siberry. Siberry and Stitzlein have played sports prior to their cross country career and both agree that “XC” is a sport that is very physically taxing and requires a lot more willpower than most others.

“The race is a moving chess game. An individual or a team makes a move; you and your teammates have to cover it as you’re running as fast as you can for 3.1 miles. Those who join have to be willing to accept physical and psychological challenges. Your self-image will improve and your confidence in your abilities will improve,” said Reeks.