The Olathe North Cross Country Team started their season on September 7th at the Greg Wilson Classic, which took place at Johnson County Community College. The varsity girls placed second overall, and both junior varsity teams placed fifth. As there were only three varsity boys, their team was not given an overall ranking.

“[The first meet] was really nerve-wracking. Everyone was nervous and scared, but once we started running it wasn’t bad,” freshman Brooke Wagoner said.

The team practices every day after school from 3:20 to 6:00, alternating between running and fitness activities to prepare for the season. This is more practice than middle school sports require.

“In high school, it’s more of a time commitment and you work harder,” Wagoner said. 

The Olathe Twilight meet took place on September 14th at ODAC. The varsity girls placed second out of fourteen teams, and the varsity boys placed ninth out of eighteen. 

According to the head coach Levi Huseman, cross country is different from other sports like football or basketball. “You don’t win or lose. Some people beat you and you beat some people,” Huseman said. “The other part is that you get to see how your time improves, so that’s kind of the goal. Each week you want to do better than you did before.”

Throughout the season, athletes will have the chance to compete in seven to nine meets and get ready for the state meet on November 2nd.

“We’ve got some talented kids,” Huseman said. “It would be awesome if we can bring home the state trophy.”