The North County Conference Coastal/Palomar League Cluster 2 took place last Saturday, with the school placing second in the men and women three miles coastal varsity races. Varsity, junior varsity and freshmen teams competed, with several athletes achieving personal records as they continued the journey towards CIF state qualifications. 

“Everyone exceeded my expectations,” head varsity coach Julie Ott said. “The boys only lost by 10 points to [Canyon Crest Academy] … that was a big improvement from previous races.”

Ott called the competition with Canyon Crest Academy (CCA) a “fun rivalry,” with the two teams going “back and forth.”

According to Ott, standout performances from William Boag (10) and Kian Massoud (10) resulted in sub-15 times, “a big milestone for guys.” Additionally, Phillip Terry (9) won the three mile coastal freshman race. 

Sophia Lesser (12), one of the girls varsity captains, achieved a personal record of under 18 minutes and came in eighth in the womens three miles coastal varsity race, with Molly Fisher (9), Izzy Wallingford (12) and Anya Trevino (10) placing consecutively behind.  

“We’ve had a lot of really good surprises,” Ott said. “We had a lot of really strong freshmen that came in that I was not expecting, and they’ve actually made up a big portion of our girls varsity team.”

Lesser is currently injured, but since this is her last season, she hopes to “finish it off strong.” For Lesser, this season also comes with balancing senior year commitments.

“I’ve had some ups and downs,” Lesser said. “Last weekend was a really good race for me, but I’ve had some weekends where it’s a little bit tougher.”

Boag described the Del Norte course as the “second fastest course” of the season, because it is designed for faster times. Almost half a mile took place on the track.

“It was a night race, which is new,” Ott said. “A lot of them have never raced at night, and it’s kind of cool, and you’re running under lights, for some reason that kind of brings out this ‘superstar athlete’ … Cross country tends to be lots of hills and on trails. This is at Del Norte High School and they purposely make the course very flat … that makes for fast times. But the kids like fast times, so it’s kind of a win-win.”

For cross country athletes, the toughest point of the three mile race is the one and a half or two mile mark because, in Boag’s words, “you’re hurting, but you’re not near the finish yet.”

“It holds true to any race, track or cross country,” Ott said. “It’s the middle or three quarter mark … that’s why I always tell them, just focus on racing what’s around you. Try not to think about the time or anything, just find a target and race after it.”

As much of distance running is about “pushing,” even past perceived limits, Boag discussed the 40% rule, stating that “once you think you’re all the way done, you still have 40% left.”

“I feel like we can always push ourselves harder,” Boag said. “When I finished this race, I finished very close to Kian, and I know he definitely pushed himself a lot harder than me, because when he went over to the finish line, his legs gave out, he collapsed, he started vomiting and he had to get carried away in a golf cart … I feel like you’re almost never going to reach a point where you can’t push yourself anymore.”

Ott explained that athletes should typically give at most 90% effort during practices to increase lactate threshold and “give it everything [they] got” during meets.

“You can go a lot harder than you think you can,” Ott said. “That’s why you’ll see, I mean, this race at the finish line, kids are pushing themselves beyond any limit they could ever imagine. And that weirdly is what’s so fun about this sport, is that you’re like, ‘wow, I never thought I could do that, and I did it.”

While distance running may seem like an individual mental and physical battle, much of the sport relies on the team.

“When you train with your team and you build a huge bond with them, then when it comes to races, you know that you can count on them,” Boag said. 

Since cross country scores come from adding up the top five runners’ places, athletes often run in a pack. 

“If you even look at the scores, like, for example, the girls, our top four were all together,” Ott said. “You look at the score, and then there’s, like, a few more, and then our fifth, which is great … The boys are a little more spread out, so it’s more of an individual push for them, like Kian and William have each other, and there’s little smaller groups, but they’re not much of a big pack. They might start that way, but it spreads out.”

While running is a year-round sport for many athletes, the varsity cross country teams began training together in July for preseason.

“They’re all really good friends, and so they’re just running for each other,” Ott said. “They’re pushing each other. It’s easier to be in a group than just running by yourself with no one to push you.”

For Lesser, the community is one of the most rewarding parts of cross country.

“Just seeing your teammates in the race and seeing them even, like, ahead of you, coming up behind you is very encouraging,” Lesser said. “Because you just know that these ladies are training with you every day, and now they’re in it with you, and you’re in it together.”

Looking ahead, runners will participate in the 77th Annual Mt. SAC invitational this weekend, which Ott herself ran in high school.

“Mt. SAC is very hilly, so for those of them, for the runners that have never run it, they’re in for a big surprise,” Ott said. “I’m taking everyone that can go. Usually I just take the varsity to invitations. But … I want them to get the experience of what an invitational feels like, and then I hope that they aspire to work harder, to get to go to other ones.” 

The NCC Cluster 3 meet on Oct. 30, and the NCC League Championships on Nov. 8 are also upcoming, before CIF San Diego and state events.

Ott described cross country as a “full team effort” involving all the coaches and athletes. To Ott, her runners are “like [her] kids.”

“We’re like a big, dysfunctional family,” Ott said. “We have all these different problems and victories and setbacks, and we all come together and support each other.”