By Kaitlyn Mattiace
Staff Writer
A grin slowly spreads across cross-country runner Thomas Ford’s face as he rounds the corner of the track, headed for the finish line. Just like all the other runners, he crosses the finish line to find friends, family and teachers congratulating him on another great race with high-fives and smiles.
Ford enjoyed running on the cross-country team and going to practice.
“I made new friends at practice,” said Ford.
It has been a season of learning and accomplishment for Ford, a freshman in Carol Bartholf’s class who ran on the cross-country team.
“He has definitely enjoyed [running on the team], he’s a good runner,” said Bartholf. “He has those long legs and a long stride and he’s improved a great deal during the time that he’s been running cross-country because he really wasn’t used to running such long lengths, but every week he kept improving and he’s a great cross-country runner now.”
The most challenging thing, Ford said, about being on the cross-country team was getting used to the vast amount of running.
A typical cross-country practice consists of running various loops on the trail, sometimes with breaks in between, adding up to 3-6 miles. An Outer Loop is a 2-mile loop on the trail and a Big O is a mile loop on the trail. Sometimes a group of runners run an Indian Run, or a few miles in a line formation where the runner in the back of the line sprints to the front of the line and when they get to the front of the line, the next runner at the back sprints and so on.
“First we have to do an Indian, a big O, and an [outer] loop,” said Ford.
“He talks about some of the meets that he’s participated in; he talks about the different courses… [how] some were confusing and not laid out as nicely as ours,” said Bartholf.
While being on a team is a commitment for students to go to practice and run every day, friendships inevitably develop and good times are had.
“[Being on the team] made him a little more outgoing. It helped him a lot, being with all the kids,” said Horton.
Finishing the season, Ford has many improved race times and memories with new friends to look back on, as well as a strong bond with Coach Ron Horton.
“I think he brought out the best in everybody, kind of like having him here made us [further enjoy] being here,” said teammate Tyler Klund, a junior.
“Every time the girls cheered for him, he ran faster,” said teammate Delaney Henry, a senior.
Ford started out running the 5-K races in about 38 or 39 minutes and he ended the season breaking 33 minutes, cutting about 6 minutes off his time and finishing sooner with each and every race.
“We have to finish it hard,” Ford said.