The cross country team came together for their first practice of the season on Aug. 17. The first meet was an invitational on Sept. 7, which included Arundel High School, Annapolis High School, Clarksburg, and Eleanor Roosevelt High School.

Coach Kellie Redmond is going into her 19th season as the cross country coach here. “Of course I love how competitive our runners are but most of all, I love coaching cross country because of how welcoming it is, especially here at Wootton. Everyone is so accommodating and helpful to all of their teammates,” Redmond said.

The cross country team is coed and anyone can join, which leads to a large number of athletes. Cross country is the school’s largest team with 83 total members. “I feel really good about the team and the spot we are in now. We have a lot of runners and everyone has their own value, which I love,” Redmond said.

Last year almost 20 seniors graduated, such as key runners Troy Bailey and Tori Ketzler. “Even with a large amount of seniors graduating, I feel like we’re going to be able to fill their shoes well, maybe not completely, but we have some highly ranked runners here at Wootton and everyone is working very hard,” Redmond said.

The runners are gearing up to get the season going. Senior Nathaniel Dates is psyched up for the season, especially to go against Walter Johnson. “Freshman year, I remember the team was rude to me when we were running and warming up. Whenever I have the chance to go up against Walter Johnson I get really excited because I love to do better than them,” Dates said.

That competitiveness is one of the elements that sets the runners here apart from others. They love to compete, even in practice. They treat it like a competition so they can be as prepared as possible come meet day. “Something I love about being able to run with my teammates in practice is that it allows me to compete against them. Whether that’s in time, distance, or really anything else we always try and practice like we would do if we were at a meet,” junior Luke Gabrielle said.

Cross country meets are made up of races for varsity, junior varsity, girls and boys, making cross country just as much a team sport as it is an individual sport. “In the past I feel as though our boys’ team has overshadowed our girls’ team even though there are good runners on both teams. However, throughout watching practice I can say for a certainty that the girls’ team is going to really step up this year,” Redmond said.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated from an earlier version that contained errors.