File:Track 1980 - 81 members and coach of the Girls Cross-Country Team..jpg

Summary

This photo is from 1980-81 and shows the members and coach of the Girls Cross-Country Team.

Cross country running provides an effective and convenient way to stay in shape. On top of that, cross country running can take place virtually anywhere, especially on grass, mud, dirt trails or hills.

Unlike most sports in which members of a team compete within a designated area where spectators can watch all of the action, cross-country members compete on a course so large that spectators can only watch the competition in small defined areas. In other sports the fields of competition are pretty much the same, be it a football field, a baseball diamond, or a basketball court whereas in cross-country the courses vary from school to school.

Cross-country is a sport where individual team members must find motivation within themselves as there is no large crowd cheering them on and often their fellow teammates are spread out over the course making verbal words of encouragement hard to communicate. In my opinion, cross-country is a sport where team members compete as individuals against the opposing team members in front of them and behind them, and against their own previous best times.

Bottom Row (L to R) – Martha Markin, Leilani Williams, Second Row – Wendy Bernard, Jackie McCoy, Debra Lewis Top Row – Mary Ann Strine, Linda Wickham, Andrea Drayer, Coach Lee Zumbach

Photo courtesy of Jon Evans