The Clarke Central High School cross country team practices strides on the track after an off-campus run in the Billy Henderson Stadium run before school on Aug. 16. The team is preparing for the North Georgia Championship meet, their first 5k of the season. “I’m hoping that some of our new runners are able to build up some confidence, some of our runners have never run in a cross country meet before,” head cross country coach Mollie Sherman said. “For our returning runners, our varsity runners, I hope that they are able to show what they’re able to do, and I think that they will impress themselves, they’ll impress the team.” Photo by Audrey Enghauser
The Clarke Central High School cross country team will participate in the North Georgia Championship Meet on Aug. 24.
The North Georgia Championship (NEGA) meet at Lamar Murphy Park in Jefferson, Georgia on Aug. 24 will be the Clarke Central High School cross country team’s first 5k of the season.
Girls and boys from middle school, JV and varsity teams will gather to compete in six races. According to head cross country coach Mollie Sherman, the team is well prepared.
“We’ve been working hard since May 27. We ran all summer, and we’re practicing Monday through Friday, with the combination of active recovery runs, workouts, speed workouts (and) hill workouts, so our kids are engaging in really quality workouts that have been written up by the coaching staff including our head trainer, Lee Patterson,” Sherman said.
On Aug. 20, the team competed in a 3k at Athens Academy in the Spartan Ekiden meet, but the NEGA Championship meet will be a new experience for some of the team members.
“A lot of new runners don’t need to go out and try and get a crazy fast time the first meet,” senior cross country runner Lucy Yeomans said. “They just need to get a feel for how races work, how long (a) 5k is, how to pace themselves, that kind of thing.”
As Sherman prepares her team for the meet, she frames it as a step along the path to the region and state meets later in the season.
“I expect for them to be competitive and fast and excited for most of our races this season,” Sherman said. “All of these other races are a lot of fun. They give our runners a great chance to go out there and compete, win some medals, have fun, but our focus really is on the end of the season.”
