With the 2022-2023 season starting as soon as the new school year begins, Robinson’s boys’ and girls’ cross country are ready to achieve new goals and face new challenges.

Over the summer, while most are still asleep, the cross country Knights have been training for the new season by running at 7:30 a.m. every weekday. It is essential for them to build up their strength and endurance in order to prepare for all the long races ahead of them.

“I think the practices are totally worth it since it conditions us for meets that happen almost immediately when school starts,” the girl’s cross country captain, Helena Gagnier (’23) said. “It also gives the new runners time to build up speed before the season starts.”

One of the biggest challenges they are facing, though, is getting more people to join cross country. Currently, there are eight girls and four boys on the team. Not to mention, there are no rising seniors on the boy’s team.

“[It’s] really hard getting more kids interested in cross country and committed to training,” head coach, Mark Altimari said. “The girl’s team is very talented and should be very competitive. There are several new runners to watch out for. The boy’s team has talent but is very low in numbers.”

A smaller team also means that they have to rely on each other more. This has allowed them to build trust and grow closer to each other, too.

“Having a small team means each of our teammates plays a significant part on the team,” Gagnier added, “If someone gets injured or can’t make a meet, it would have a bigger impact on the team.”

With all this hard work in mind, their number one goal is to return to the State Championships in Tallahassee (the girls for the fifth consecutive year, and the boys after a two-year absence). Many of the runners are looking forward to beating individual and school records as well.

“Some goals I have for the season would be to make it to states as a team and to break 17 minutes by the end of the season. I’m just looking to run as fast as I can,” one of the boys’ captains, Douglas Yoder (’24) said.

The first meet of the season, the Babe Zaharias Invite, is set to happen on Friday, August 26 at 5:00 p.m. If you are interested in joining the XC team, be sure to email Coach Altimari at [email protected]