How the 2023-2024 Cross Country Season Is Going So Far
How the 2023-2024 Cross Country Season Is Going So Far
By Sadie Abbitt
Disclaimer: Sadie Abbitt is a cross country runner for Talawanda High School. She’s also one of the top-10 female runners in the Southwest Ohio Conference. Sadie and all the runners hope you’ll come out to support the Brave at the SWOC Conference Meet held at THS on Saturday, October 14. The high school girls run at 9:30 am and the boys run at 10 am. The middle school girls run at 11 am and the middle school boys at 11:30 am. Tickets are $6 and can be purchased at the gate.
Cross Country is arguably one of the most mentally challenging sports there is. It takes a lot of physical strength to keep your body moving; it takes a lot of mental strength to keep your body from stopping. The 2023-2024 Talawanda High School Cross Country team has had an amazing season so far. There are 17 returning 10th – 12th graders participating in Cross Country this year and a number of freshmen and many 8th graders eager to join the high school team next year. This season there have been many personal best times for the 5K as the athletes are putting in hours per week and running countless miles over the course of the season.
This year’s XC girls have been putting forth the team spirit with many spirit days throughout the season, dressing in theme every Wednesday and also a number of other days throughout the season and creating an XC spirit week for the week of homecoming. The girls team has developed a strong bond between them even though they do not all run together. Truly showing that it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you run, this team will support each other no matter what.
Naiara Ayo-Belka, a senior XC runner, created an XC Instagram, @talawanda_xc, to post about every meet and get people hyped! She has also been putting flyers around the THS building to encourage people to stop by the home meets to support the team.
Talawanda XC has a great group of seniors this year. This includes — Lily Franks, Naiara Ayo-belka, Molly VanGorden, Makayla Chaney, Evan Messner, and Joaquin Scaglia. They also have great coaches who are a key component in the team’s success. Coach Oberschlake has been with the team for years and has always supported and encouraged each and every runner. Miles Weatherwax works hard at getting every split for every race and has made some great connections with the team members this season. In an interview, Miles explains his love for getting to know the students and getting to work with Coach O.
“My favorite part of the season so far has been getting to know all of the students better. I hope I’m not spilling too much tea here: I learned that Max is NOT a T Swift fan, that Sadie and I have similar music tastes, that Bryson is NOT a big fan of deer, and that Evan has been interested in joining the Navy. Being a younger coach, I often feel like a fun older brother and that’s part of the reason why I enjoy this job so much. On the other end, I really love working with Coach O. I look up to her.”
Both coaches are dedicated and supportive and work hard every day to make the most of the season. Not only do they help the runners get better, but they also make personal connections with the runners and work hard to make the cross country season enjoyable.
There are still multiple more meets left to go this season — but so far — it has been a hands down successful and enjoyable season for all. When asked how the season was going, Garrison Franks and Jesse Troy both explained how the season was going well and there have been a lot of PR’s. Even with many injuries this season, Franks stated “We’ve still managed to have a lot of impressive accomplishments despite the setbacks.”
Overall, the season has been going great with many personal bests and the team demonstrates a strong connection with each other and their commitment to their sport. Coming up, the team will be competing in the SWOC championship at Talawanda High School on October 14. Following this race, the top 7 runners from each team will compete at Voice of America for the District meet on October 21st. The team is looking forward to seeing more accomplishments in the last couple weeks of the season!
Photo from Brave Invitational, Saturday Oct. 7, 2023 Talawanda Athletics
