Around the beginning of April, students can try out for the FMS cross country team. From April to May, they have their practices. The students would attend practices on the FMS school field and they would attend meets at Merrill Park.
During practices, the boys and girls usually run together. They would have to run a mile and a half. The practices consist of various stretching beforehand and a quick light jog before the mile and a half.
With the amount of time and however fast they complete the mile and a half they got from practice, the top ten fastest would be chosen to run in the meets at Merrill Park. Though, the slowest runners can still participate with the practices.
Cross country runner Kalel C from the boys team says “After seeing everyone pass ahead of me during practice, I’m constantly being pressured to do better. Though I never competed in a meet before, there isn’t much expectation. However, over the past couple of months, I’d say cross country has definitely motivated me to become a better person both physically and mentally. So even if you’re not the best, you should never give up. There is always an opportunity for you to improve yourself.”
When there is a meet, boys and girls go on the same bus to Merrill Park. Once they arrive, they run separately, with the boys running with boys from the other team and girls doing the same with running against the girls from their opposing team.
When they run, they go against different teams from different schools within the district: Colonia, Avenel, Iselin, and Woodbridge. They run depending on who’s running second or first from the four teams.
For example, if the team from Colonia goes against Fords and there is another team like Avenel against Iselin at the park, it would make either one of them compete in the race first.
The top runner, Neveah S, from the girls cross country team says, “When I’m on the bus going to Merrill Park, I try not to think about the race too much so I don’t stress over it, so I play some relaxing games and drink some water. Once I get to the park, I take some breaths in case I’m nervous. I also try to eat a banana about 10 minutes before a race because my mom told me it helps before working out or running.”
As the season is coming to an end, Neveah also mentioned “To end the season, I would personally try to beat my time at the last practice and to place in top ten, maybe even the top 5, for the meet of champions.”
Kalel has also said, “As cross country is coming to an end, my goal is not just to finish strong but to break my record and demonstrate how much I’ve improved. Every practice, every hardship, has made me stronger. I want to finish this season knowing I gave it everything I got. I want to show that records could be broken, but determination will last forever.”
So far the boys cross country team has been going pretty well off this year, whereas the girls cross country team is putting in their effort and focusing hard on their growth.
