The girls cross country team is undefeated and expected to win state. With the title of State Champions for the past three years, the pressure is on. As sectionals creeps closer, the small steps to faster strides begins.
Tayler McCormack, three year Varsity Cross Country runner, has great faith in her team this year. When asked about how she and her teammates prepare for a big meet, she said “Preparing for a meet is all mental! The day before the meet, each runner fills out a race map of the course, and we do a visualization/relaxation routine as a group. When you have a plan going into the meet it is much less nerve-wracking.” Tayler commented that that routine is not only for quote on quote “big meets”, but it is especially for their rival schools. The biggest rival in girls cross country, Neenah High School, of Neenah, WI.
Tayler noted, that especially against big rival schools like Neenah, that the mental aspect of cross country is just as important-if not more-than the physical. That led to the next question, how much of cross country is mental and how much is physical? “CC is probably 25% physical and 75% mental. Even if you are in the best shape of your life, if your attitude is bad it will show in your times. When you are in the middle of a tough workout it essentially turns into a mental game!”
The small steps to faster strides are in process, as the Varsity team prepares for the upcoming Sectionals meet. Now more than ever is the time for the girls to prepare physically, and mentally.