The time came for the first cross country race of the season! Ripon’s boys and girls frosh/soph, varsity girls, and varsity boys teams raced against Central Catholic. Due to the Covid-19 virus, the meet was small and the athletes ran for personal times. 

    There were two race lengths, a two mile run for frosh/soph runners and a 5k run for varsity runners. The wind was a challenge, but the athletes pushed through and had a successful meet. Ripon’s team had the top two runners in both girls varsity and boys varsity and the fifth and sixth runners for the frosh/soph race. 

    “The race felt more focused on seeing how you can personally do and the pressure was high. It was a really competitive meet,” said sophomore Tristan Anderson. 

    Racing for the first time in over a year had its pressures. Running against a new team, weather, and the course all made for high competition at the meet. Coming into the race, however, was a familiar feeling that most athletes had missed.

“Before the race I felt really excited and nervous. After I felt accomplished,” stated freshman Jenna Skavdahl.  

Before racing, nerves are high, and warming up while watching the other team makes the nerves worse. Running relieves some of the stress, and after crossing the line to complete the race is when athletes realize what they have just accomplished. The race had challenges of its own, but every person on the team pushed through. 

“The race was hard because there weren’t many people in the race to push me, but I had a great day,” explained senior Madison Berry.