Girls cross country athlete Camille Attaway, a junior, runs at NGA Championships at Lamar Murphy Park in Jefferson, Ga. on Aug. 26. According to head cross country coach Erica Cascio, preparation for the 2023 cross country season started in summer. “I’m always looking to develop student ownership and leadership skills and to make them more self reliant. I think that running is a catalyst for those life skills,” Cascio said. “My goal is that we take a kid at the beginning of the year, and they develop. They grow personally, in addition to growing as a runner. They’re achieving those goals, but they’re achieving those goals because they’re adjusting their behavior.” Photo courtesy of Audrey St. Onge
The varsity and junior varsity cross country teams will host the Gladiator Invitational on Sept. 9.
The cross country season is already underway, with the upcoming Gladiator Invitational taking place starting at 8 a.m. on Sept. 9 at Clarke Central High School. This meet will be the fourth event of the season.
To prepare for the upcoming meet, the runners have been practicing five days a week with a combination of long runs and speed work. Head cross country coach Erica Cascio is looking forward to seeing this practice pay off during the meet.
“It’s a great fundraiser for us. My goal is good money, also a successful meet. It’s always nice to win on your home course. Our varsity boys have been doing very well so far this season,” head cross country coach Erica Cascio said. “Our varsity girls are really up and coming, we have a lot of new girls. We finally have a couple of younger women to run with them and keep them on pace and coach them as they’re running, so I think that’s going to make a huge difference.”
“We’ve got a lot of energy on the team and a lot of opportunities for our veteran runners to assume leadership roles with those with those newbies.”
— Erica Cascio,
Head cross country coach
Girls varsity cross country team captain Sophie Rohani, a senior, is glad for the opportunity the team will have to run in the upcoming meet.
“Though I’m not running tomorrow, I am excited that our team is running at our home course,” Rohani said. “Our home course is quite difficult, but I think we have trained and can tackle this race.”
With 40 CCHS students running on the cross country teams, the largest group in years, Cascio is looking forward to what the rest of the season will bring.
“(A large team) has a lot of opportunity. It means that we’ve got a lot of younger runners to develop, so that we’ll have a successful team for years going forward,” Cascio said. “And then, we’ve got a lot of energy on the team and a lot of opportunities for our veteran runners to assume leadership roles with those with those newbies.”
