Cross country expecting big results

By: 
Gray Hughes

The Hill City cross country team is expecting another big year.

Last year, the girls team placed second at state, and seniors Kadyn Comer and Rebecca Cutler are once again expecting them to be there.

“We definitely have a lot of really talented kids out for cross country this year, especailly our girls team,” Cutler said. “So I think we can proudly say that we are really aiming to win state this year and can definitely do that.”

Comer said she and her teammates are very competitive, even in practice.

She said she expects herself and Cutler to be the pace setters for how state will go.

“We’re really competitive and getting better,” she said.

Comer said she might not be the fastest runner on the team, but she will encourage her teammates and will be there for them as a leader.

Going through brutal summer workouts with one another has really helped, she said.

“The other big thing for us has been figuring out how to work together to make sure we’re leading the team together and showing them teamwork between the two of us as seniors and how we should be as a team,” Cutler said. “A lot of people don’t think of cross country as a team sport but it definitely is. We’re here for them, and we’re going to be their teammates through thick and thin.”

Freshman Abby Cutler placed second at state last year as an eighth grade student.

This year she has her eye on the top prize.

“I want to win,” she said. “I have been aiming to win state for a long time.”

Winning state is Abby Cutler’s dream, and she is confident she can get that title this year.

She has been working out and training all summer and said she will do anything to win states this year.

“Since COVID happened, we couldn’t do track season, so we have been running since May,” she said. “We have been training for cross country since May. So I have been running all summer. So much mileage under my belt so that helps us get ready for states.”

The lone boy representatitve for states last year was freshman Luke Rupert.

He first qualified for states when he was in seventh grade and has improved each time he went.

This year, his goal is top 25 and to help get at least three boys to the state meet.

“We started training May 1, so about six months total,” he said. “We ran 430 miles just during the summer, and now practice is starting. We did lifting three days a week, so compared to previous years that’s a lot more. We should be in a lot better shape.”

User login