By Maggie Morrow

From left, junior Gaby Ramirez, and seniors Derrick Lee, Allasyn Slater, and Emily Walden are the 2010 team captains. Photo by: Maggie Morrow

For the PHS Cross Country team, the word “family” may better describe this group.  Coming into the season strongly, the team members are more ready than ever to come out on top this year.

“It is my final season with the team, so I am most excited for the new friends that I will make, the impact I leave on the people when I leave and making memories with some of my best friends and my second family,” says senior Allasyn Slater.  “I’m just excited to get to know everybody on the team and make friends,” freshman Sidney Listenberger states.  Like Slater, her teammates play a large role in how much she enjoys running.  Two of the junior class runners, however, are more excited to dominate each race.  “We have a really good team and hopefully we can make it to semi-state,” says junior Diego Ibarra.  Also a junior, Gaby Ramirez is ready to surprise everyone.  “I just want to show that we are way stronger this year,” she states.
Along with weekly team dinners, the team spends an extreme amount of time together.  Though everyone is accustomed to the camp the runners attend each summer during two-a-day practices, there was yet another tradition added this year.  Every runner participated in the first annual Run-a-Thon.  It was a unique and fun way to condition, bond as a team and raise money.   Previous to the Run-a-Thon, every runner was to find two to six sponsors, asking each sponsor to donate any  amount  of  money per mile that the team member was able to run within the twelve hours given.  “Coach split us up into teams of four or five people.  We took the roles of first through however many runners we had in the group and ran in that order.  For twelve hours, [six o’clock p.m. to six o’clock a.m.] each person would run one mile and after that mile, they would tag the next runner in their group and they would do the same,” Slater explains.  Depending on the sponsors, each runner earned a different amount of money to be spent on team shirts, uniforms, sweats and hats.
Not only do they realize how the closeness of their team impacts the season, but also how the direction and difficulty of the practices affect every race.  Alternating every other day, practices go in a pattern from difficult to easy, then back to difficult.  Senior Emily Walden, however, feels as though there are no easy practices.  “Everyday is hard, some just aren’t as hard as others,” she states.  Throughout  the summer, each  practice focused on different aspects of running a race.  Some would consist of  sprints  and  speed work-outs, while others would require a distance run.
Through the tiring practices and exhausting meets, one does not have to be a first place finisher to be a leader.  “I would have to say that every senior on both the boys team and the girls team are leaders to everyone,” shares Slater.  “They influence everyone and help anyone in need, no matter what their ranking.”  Seniors Allasyn Slater and Emily Walden, and junior Gaby Ramirez are the girls’ team captains this season, with senior Derrick Lee as the guys’ captain.
When it comes to making varsity, time is the only factor, and one’s age and grade level are irrelevant.  “Top seven times for the girls and the top seven times for the guys make varsity,” Ramirez states.  “Everyone under those seven are JV, but that could change after any race, just depending whether or not you keep your spot or if someone bumps you down,” Slater further explains.  It is clear that competition is never a question for the  PHS  cross country team.