This year’s boys varsity cross country team hopes to take home the league title over the University City team after being co-champions last year. Throughout the season, they competed in numerous invitationals, league meets, and the Mt. Sac Invitational, which is the biggest race of the year.––––

Coach Geiger, the head coach of Dons cross country since 1997, is the go-to-guy when wishing to learn more about running or getting involved with the team.

“When competing in a race, work for low score,” said Coach Geiger. Yes, a low score. Most people don’t know that cross county runners try to get a lower amount of points in order to win a cross country meet.

“Cross country is a lot more intricate than just running,” said Coach Geiger. He has the varsity team train by lifting weights, exercising core, mental training, and four different types of running to work on different energy sources. In just one week, the team runs 56 miles while doing hill workouts, speed workouts, and long-distance running.

With either winning or tying League finals since 2009, boy’s varsity hopes to take home the trophy again this year. But, after losing four of their top runners and their second fastest junior, the team was looking bleak this year. Thankfully, Junior Connor Marmion and Senior Tyler Philips, both of whom are recovering from an injury, are hoping to make CIF a possibility. With the new group of athletes, Coach Geiger will helped them adjust to the sport and become better runners.

While the faster runners strive to individually qualify for state, the newest runners are hoping to simply become better than when they started. Raymond Marrokal, this year’s top runner, provided some insight for incoming runners.

“The hardest part of running is starting, within a month new runners breathe easier, sweat less, and feel less awkward [while running]. If your running goal is to become faster, try increasing your weekly mileage every three weeks by two or three miles,” he said.

Coach Geiger said being a runner is simple. If a student wants to be a part of cross country, but doesn’t know what to do, he should “show up to runs, and have fun,” he said.