By: Nick Bartlett

Early November, Ripon’s top cross country runners lugged their packed bags to school ready to head to the hills for a tough, yet fun camping trip. 12 of the top runners headed to Greely Hill in order experience an invitation only trip, that included massive team bonding and of course, tough runs. Over the 3 days they were there, the athletes ran nearly 15 miles, and that consisted of over 50% uphill!!!

Despite the pain that was experienced during the run, the team members enjoyed plenty of free time in Señora McPhearson’s cabin playing cards, watching movies, and enjoying lots of food! The team enjoyed plenty of cool weather as well as a nice cold drizzle during the trip. Overall, the athletes that went enjoyed every moment of their time. “It’s not something I would usually do unless I was asked, but I had a blast,” said Marissa Regalo.

“It’s trips and runs like these that help the runners to achieve greater goals, and these runs make normal races seem easy. It really shows athletes how hard they can push,” said Mr. Calkins.

Cross Country has their final league meet the following week and nearly the entire team achieved personal records, as well as multiple advancements to sections, and a Ellie waters making it to state. In all, the season concluded as a success, with steady improvement all season long!