As a sport, cross country requires a unique combination of speed and endurance. And with the mandatory changes to sports brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, endurance has been crucial in the success of a team. It comes as no surprise, then, that the EBHS Girls’ Cross Country team hasn’t slowed down one bit.

Ashanae Morrison, 12, joined the team just this year. “I genuinely love running and I do any running that I can.” Although she only ran in two meets this season, she says that “everyone went out there and ran well at the different meets they had.”

The team’s love for the sport shows in their enormous effort, too. Despite canceled meets and rewritten guidelines, team members have continued to practice and build endurance on their own. Emma Pusung, 11, says that “to mentally prepare, we think about our goal times and how we want to run the race. To prepare our bodies for the race we lower our mileage the day before and get in some strides.”

Overall, the team has powered through a season made far more complicated by COVID-19. Lena Park, 12, says that she’s “looking forward to track.” Despite this year’s changes, Lena is hopeful. “I’m thankful for the season we were still able to have.”