According to the Yakima Herald-Republic cross country is ranked as one of the hardest high school sports. Cross country is a running sport in which teams race along natural courses, trying to be the first team to collectively finish the fastest.

“Not only are you celebrating [the win], but the whole team gets to celebrate it together,” sophomore and cross country runner Lillian Liles said.

Getting a personal record is what most runners strive for each race; it’s what motivates most runners to participate in the sport.

“It feels like a relief because you’ve put in all this work and it finally pays off a little bit to know you’re getting faster,” senior and cross country runner Justin Davenport said.

Cross country runners run 3.1 miles or which is also five kilometers during meets.The sport is a physical challenge for the runners and, even more so, a mental challenge to keep themselves from quitting.

“I just push everyone around me to do the best they can and to do the best that I can,” senior and cross country runner William Moore said.

During meets, runners will drift off into their own state of mind, tuning out the cheering from parents and coaches.

“You get a pre-race song stuck in your head, and you just play it over and over again,” Moore said.

Cross country runners spend a lot of time together at practices and meets, resulting in them becoming close to one another and forming unique friendships individually and as a whole.

  “It’s given me a second family, within the school,” Liles said.

The cross country team has been able to bond with one another in their own ways, allowing for them to run as not only a team, but as a family. Examples of this is the girls team giving each other gifts before meets. The boys team spends the night at each other’s houses before the meets.

“The atmosphere that the guys create because they are all silly [and make it fun even while] running is not fun, ” Davenport said.