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- Seniors Elizabeth Ho and Lean Greene run against Wellesley Wednesday, Oct. 5.
by Perrin Stein
In the first half of the season, girls’ cross country, 6-5, stood up to numerous challenges: the toughest teams in the Bay State Conference, learning how to run competitively and a race course it had never experienced before, according to coach Brandon Mogayzel.
Through their hard work, the Tigers persevered, maintaining a winning record.
They “tailored their practices a week prior to each meet in order to be as prepared as possible,” Mogayzel said.
“For example, we did hill runs if we knew the course would be hilly, and we did track workouts to improve our speeds.”
The team’s focus on technique, speed and strength helped it to compete well in the first half of the season, he said.
“Each meet is very different, but I think the entire team was prepared and competed well.”
Now, the Tigers are focusing on aspects of their running that can be shorter, according to senior Becca Trayner, a captain with seniors Allie Phillips, Rosie Sokolov and Melissa Weikart.
For example, the Tigers can eliminate time at the end of the race by kicking their legs as they approach the finish line, according to Trayner.
“Our coach is great at making workouts that help us improve the little things,” she said.
“He gives us different techniques to focus on each day, and we do a variety of different runs to improve on one little thing at a time.”
With the most difficult races completed, the Tigers are looking ahead to the larger meets that always punctuate the end of the season.
At these meets, the Tigers will focus on individual performances, according to Trayner.
Tomorrow, the Tigers will face Norwood as a part of the Bay State Conference Meet.
Saturday, Nov. 5, the Tigers will attend the MSTCA State Coaches Invitational, giving athletes a chance to compete on a much larger scale than the dual and tri-meets they have been racing in all season. It will help the Tigers to prepare for the even larger State Meet late next month.