With the end of summer comes football, but it also heralds                                                                               the beginning of the cross country season. Mr. Bobby Krause, the                                                             Assistant Director of Student Activities, the cross country, indoor                                                                         track, and outdoor track coach, was more than happy to discuss                                                                       the work of his fall team.

Within a week of training, the team rotates between long                                                                                   runs, shorter, faster tempo, training runs, and interval workouts.                                                                   These different runs build all aspects of the runners’ fitness. Cross                                                               country is also a sport that can help you become a better athlete in                                                               whatever sport you play in the winter and spring seasons. Keeping                                                                   fitness as high as possible is very important during the cross coun-                                                                       try season, because runners will run anywhere from seven to ten                                                                     meets a year. These can be large invitationals with schools from                                                                           around the state, to small four-team conference meets, to the con-                                                                     ference championship. These meets are all scored the same, and                                                                     run relatively similarly too. When it comes to the small conference                                                             races, there is a boys race and a girls race, with each race having                                                                       from 75 runners to up to 100.

As they set off, they will run anywhere from two and a half                                                                               miles, to a full five kilometers, which is equivalent to 3.1 miles. The                                                                 top five runners from each school will be scored. The scores are                                                               calculated by adding up the places that the five runners came in.                                                                       “So if we finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, then our score would                                                                         be 15,” said Mr. Krause. “The cool thing about the sixth and sev-                                                                       enth finishers is that they don’t add to your score, but they can af-                                                                 fect other team’s scores.” And just like practically every other Falls                                                                 Church team, one of the cross country team’s biggest rivals is J.E.B.                                                                 Stuart. The boys team took a difficult one-point loss to Stuart last                                                                   year in the conference championship. The girls have always been                                                                       very competitive against squads like Thomas Jefferson. George C.                                                           Marshall has been a major state powerhouse.

Falls Church is hosting a home meet on October 13. This would be a perfect                                                 opportunity to come out and support Falls Church athletes who often don’t receive                                   any support for all the work they do, and to see your friends compete.