On a typical Saturday, most teenagers enjoy hanging out with friends or sleeping until noon. However, there seems to be a special breed of girls who defy this norm: cross country runners. These girls wake up at the crack of dawn and make countless sacrifices to race at one of the toughest courses in New Jersey.

This past weekend, on November 15^th, the top seven runners on the cross country team participated in the NJSIAA Group Championships at Holmdel Park. This course consists of giant hills and something called “the bowl,” which is an extremely steep vertical incline. The bowl is the biggest hill that most runners have ever encountered on a cross country course. If the bowl wasn’t intimidating enough, ambulances are lined up at every major point on the course, just in case a runner falls or passes out on the treacherous trail.

Going into the race, the team knew they were prepared. They had a whole season of training under their belt and knew the course inside and out. They had run at Holmdel throughout the season many times. However, many people don’t know how a much a person’s mental state impacts their running.  If a runner is having a bad day, or is psyched out and nervous, their running undoubtedly reflects it. Fortunately, it seemed like all of Township’s runners were on their game mentally.

The seven girls consisted of all different grade levels. There were two freshman–Morgan Hodges and Ashley Sibilia–two juniors– Rose Barrett and Paige Clarke–and three seniors– Abbie Faith, Caitlyn Poss, and Amanda “Dubby” Whitaker. The girls have an unbreakable relationship that was evident from the first day of practice.

When they lined up on the starting line and the gun went off, they did what they were trained to do: run without any worries or limitations. They were off, running into the hills, vanishing from the spectator’s sight. They went into the woods where they bravely faced one of the hardest courses in the state.

Twenty minutes after the gun fired, the first two girls from the team came in. The cheering was loud and one by one the girls sprinted through the finish line. Knowing this was most likely one of her last meets, Whittaker had a smile across her face the entire race, soaking in this one last experience.

Sure, all of their hard work and running is unfathomable, but what is really memorable is their bond. Both Whittaker and Faith broke into tears after the race, partly because of the pain that they had just endured by running and conquering Holmdel one last time, but mostly because of how much they were going to miss one another. Many more tears followed from teammates who ran and others who came to support. The thought of the seniors leaving and being split up was an emotional experience that showed this team is more like a family.

All in all, cross country isn’t just a sport. Although it’s brutal, it is truly a way to make friends and memories like no other. Your teammates are the only ones who know the pain, and that is what brings you closer.  Cross country runners are one of a kind.