On December 7, 1867, the first cross country race called the Crick Run took place at the Rugby school. This was the first public run, which was available to anyone to compete in. As of today, many high schools, middle schools, and even elementary schools can compete in a league. There are even marathons for adults who would like to compete and even in the Olympics, as adults run and compete against others. The sport has gained popularity, and Saturdays are often occupied with parents and grandparents watching their children and grandchildren run courses which are typically around two miles for middle schools and 3.2 miles (5k) for high schools.

For now, we will focus on the Crownpoint High School Cross Country team known as the Eagles, or as I like to call them, the “Running Eagles.” The high school competes in the NMAA league where they compete with other schools in the state of New Mexico, including other schools in the Gallup McKinley County district such as the Bengals in Gallup, the Hawks in Thoreau, and many more. The team and the coaches often get on the road to compete at various meets, mostly on Saturdays. Usually, they compete between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. When the team arrives at the race, the runners each get a number pinned onto their jerseys. When it is time for their race, they line up at the starting point and when they are all situated, the starter yells, “Get ready, get set, GO!” and shoots the starting gun.

Interview with cross country coach

I corresponded with the Assistant cross-country coach Mr. Faunt and heard what he had to say for this season. The coach was asked a variety of questions, such as “What were their goals for this season?” The first question we asked was, “According to the start of the season how do you think the season will go? He responded, “We are off to a good start and a lot of students should see a great deal of improvement as they continue to get in running shape.”

In addition, I asked, “What are your duties for being a cross country coach? He noted, “There are many duties within coaching, such as the paperwork to prepare for meets and scheduling meets prior to the season. During the season We communicated consistently with athletes and families and running practices daily. We create running workouts and monitor and support students in their progress. On the Weekends, mostly Saturdays, we go to meets, where multiple teams show up to compete in the running races.”
Finally, Coach Faunt was asked, “So far what are your goals for this season?” He replied, “Our goal is to see all runners improve and achieve personal bests. One important goal would be to take some runners to the state meet.”

Surveying anonymously

A variety of Crownpoint High School students were surveyed, to find out what their thoughts are about cross country. The first question, which received the most responses was, “As the Crownpoint Eagles compete in meets do you think it has been easy or difficult to manage them?” The most voted answer was “easy.” Another question asked was, “As the runners run the courses how do you think they feel? The most voted answer was “tired.” Finally, I asked, “How do you think the season will go according to the first meet? Many answered with “great.”

Many may think that the runners only run and do nothing else. Well, think about running up hills, running down hills, and at the end, they must sprint to the end only to beat other runners. When people responded that they believe the runners are tired after races, I would say that they are right because running takes up a lot of energy. Lastly, the word “great” was another popular answer in the survey. Many people’s response that the season will go great was likely because they have faith in runners, knowing that they will all put forth their best efforts to perform well, and represent Crownpoint.

Other Opinions

As a past runner, I have known and experienced the feeling of running for a long time since I ran courses as long as 3 miles and at the finale of my cross-country season, I ran 3.1 miles. In the end, I placed 12th and brought home a banner for the Borrego Pass Mountaineers. Furthermore, all Cross-Country runners know the feeling, and we must give them some respect for being strong, physically and mentally. In addition, people often think that Cross-Country is a simple sport to compete in. It may look simple, but there are also many challenges in becoming a strong runner. Many people have faith in the Crownpoint runners, as demonstrated by the survey responses.
Although the runners are extraordinarily strong, let us think about the coaches. The coaches are the ones that make everything happen by how they plan out meets and give up their Saturdays to be there and support their runners and observe how much the runners improve. As the coach for cross country said, “It is always exciting to see runners improve and reach their goals. This is the best part in coaching –to see runners improve and excel.”

Many people believe that cross-country is the most difficult sport to do in high school. Well, I must agree with them; it is the hardest sport to do as you put all your strength into it, physically and mentally.

Would you like to know a fun fact about cross country? Back then in the early 19th century cross country used to be called paper chasing or hare and hounds, probably because when a paper gets blown away, you must go after it, and because hares must run away from the hounds.

Every weekend throughout the fall months, there are cross country events all over the world, we cheer on many different teams around the world cheering on runners. Many families and friends hope to see their student athletes at the top one day, and to see them succeeding in life. As for the people in the Crownpoint community, we help and support in any way we can, just so our Eagles can fly to success on the cross-country courses, in the classroom, and in life.