After months and months of running, lifting, and hard work, and even more running, the Northwest cross country team finally kicks off its season this Saturday.
The Bearcats started preparing for this season since track season ended at the beginning of the summer. Coach Scott Lorek said the team took about two weeks off after track season ended.
This year, the 'Cats began preseason training around June 1.
"We are going to go out and test the waters and just have some fun with it," Senior Daniel Pescador said.
Lorek is planning on learning a lot from the team's first race.
"I want to find out how tough we are mentally, and if we are competitive," Lorek said. "Our fitness will improve, I know we'll get faster, but we have to jump on the mental part right away."
The 'Cats worked in camps and individually over the summer. Lorek thinks his team did a great job preparing for this season individually and as a team.
"We have seen some fast improvements which means they all worked hard in their summer workouts," Lorek said.
Sophomore Madison Marshman thinks camp is worth a lot more than just everyone getting better.
"In camp, we come much closer together as a team, and we can learn about each other, like who we can run with and who can push us," Marshman said.
Some on the team hold optimistic outlooks for such a young team.
"We raised our team potential and we can shoot for one of the top three spots to move onto nationals.," Pescador said.
Last season, no Northwest runners advanced from regionals to nationals. Anna O'Brien finished only one spot from qualifying. O'Brien is back this season but she will red shirt giving her the chance to train this year and compete next fall.
"We have a strong team with a lot of new freshmen and older girls too," Marshman said.
As far as individual achievement goes, Pescador and Marshman both want to set personal records.
The 'Cats begin the season Saturday at home at the Bearcat/Spoofhound Open on the practice fields near the high-rise dorms and the baseball field.
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