After winning multiple invitational meets and placing third overall at New England Championships last year, Kingswood Oxford’s girl’s cross country team hopes to continue their success this year for the 2022 season.
The team began practicing the week before school started during fall sports preseason, where they really focused on developing their strength. “We are lifting, we are doing sit-ups and push-ups every single practice and then we encourage [the runners] to do that at home,” girls cross country Head Coach Tricia Watson said.
Not only did the runners focus on their physical strength, but the coaches also emphasize the importance of mental toughness and the strategies for staying mentally tough during a three-mile race.
Even though the girl’s team brought home multiple trophies last year, Coach Watson’s main goal for the team this season is for the girls to have fun. As an off-campus sport practicing at the West Hartford Reservoir daily, many of the girls form lasting relationships with their teammates during the bus rides to and from practice. “I really do pursue a community of athletes and coaches that are supportive, caring, nurturing, and competitive,” Coach Watson said, reflecting on her goals for the team this season. Coach Watson also hopes that the school and its students will appreciate the hard work and effort that these runners are putting in daily.
The team’s first official meet was actually on Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Noble and Greenough School located in the suburbs of Boston. However, only a few of the girls could participate in this race since most of the team, including both coaches, were in New Hampshire on the Form 3 trip to Camp Merriwood. Instead, boys cross country Head Coach Fritz Goodman and history teacher Peter Jones traveled with eight athletes to this meet for a “fun run” to open up their season.
The girls’ first meet as a full team was on Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Choate Rosemary Hall invitational. This was a non-scoring race where runners competed against 20 other schools from across New England. There were three races at this meet, the first being the veteran girls followed by the veteran boys, and concluding with a co-ed novice race. “The spirit of the meet is really just to get back at it and to support each other for a very long season,” said Coach Watson.
The team’s most recent meet, and the first scored race of the season, was the Canterbury Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 24. Last year, the girls took home the first place trophy, but this year was more about each runner seeing their improvement in times from the first two meets. The KO girls came in sixth out of eight teams, four points behind Westover. Coach Watson looks forward to strong competition between the two lineups this season. Looking ahead, KO plans to host New Englands for the Division III cross-country schools alongside the Canterbury School. The meet will be located at Canterbury but it will be KO coaches who will organize and score the meet. Even though there is a long way to go in the season, the team is already looking forward to this event.
