A new season, new PRs, time for long early runs for a team with high hopes for the new season
Cross-country running is just one of many teams that students can join on the Brantford campus. Cross-country is a little different than other sports. It is an individual sport, unlike others, training happens as a team as much as an athlete trains on their own.
Teams such as cross-country have to train for so long only to shave a minute or two off of their time. It is, however, a big deal in the outcome of their races.
“Not only have I been able to make really good friends on the team, but it has also opened a lot of doors for me. So, for instance, through being on the team, I was able to interview for a position as a peer academic athlete coach,” Kirby Blackman, a fourth-year humanities leadership major and four season cross-country athlete said.
“The whole team has been very, very nice. A lot of people there are kind of like family, so it’s a really tight knit, close bunch of people and who wouldn’t want to go run with a whole bunch of people that you call family? Like, it’s fun, it’s enjoyable. I love doing as much running as I can. It helps me stay fit and just the payout of it is just the best. Like I just love doing it. I just love running,” Mya Baxter, a fourth-year criminology major and a second-year cross-country athlete said.
Sports, as a whole, have been proven to help mental health. The breaks that students take for training or playing their chosen sports are helping in keeping good mental health. For many, going for a run is the best way to clear their mind, for example cross-country.
“Being a student athlete can certainly be busy at times. But I think that incorporating athletics into a busy schedule can be very beneficial for mental health, I find that if I’m studying all day, I begin to feel very just stressed and bogged down, and sometimes just going for a 20-minute run will clear my mind. So, although it does take away some time that I could be spending studying, it is beneficial for my own well-being, and I do feel better after it,” Baxter said.
Based off Laurier archival records, the cross-country team has been an active team on the Brantford campus since 2016. The team has had some ups and downs. From not placing to placing third or first; the women’s team was ranked in the top ten nationally in 2018. This year season has just begun with tryouts coming to an end and the first tournament on Oct. 4 at Fanshawe.
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