The final cross country meet of the year, CCS, took place on November 11, 2023 at the Crystal Springs course. Although the majority of NDB’s team did not compete, one runner, Junior Andie Wong, represented the Tigers for the final time this season.
“Going into this race I had a lot of time to prepare, make sure I got ahead on my schoolwork and got a lot of sleep throughout the week,” said Wong. “I think that the biggest thing I did to prepare for this meet was mentally preparing. My mindset was the best it’s ever been on the [starting] line.”
Before the race, Wong warmed up for a few minutes and completed dynamic stretches. This pre-race ritual ensured that she would be loose before running and also helped Wong to get into the mindset they would need in order to focus when they ran.
This was the third race at this course this season, and Wong was very experienced on this course from prior years as well. However, despite the familiarity, Crystal Springs was a difficult course to run. Coming out at around 2.95 miles, Crystal is ranked as one of the toughest courses in the United States.
“I’ve learned to really like the course. I think that it has a reputation for being difficult, and don’t get me wrong, there’s parts of it that are super hard to race and there are definitely parts in the race where you have to question if you can finish, and that’s just how it is,” Wong said.
Although she knew racing at Crystal Springs would be a challenge, the team had been training all season for the CCS meet and Wong knew that she could run well even though there were certain factors against her.
The day of the race was warmer than expected, but despite this Wong was able to run the course in 21 minutes flat, securing her the 20 place out of 95 participants. This time was also a season record for Wong, and she stated that she felt content with her performance after racing.
“I’ll remember that support that I received and how it made me feel so I felt so grateful for their support,” Wong recalled. “I’ll also remember that this was a learning experience. I mean, I did everything I could, but I still fell short of state, and that’s been a goal of mine for a really long time now.”
While this was the final race of the season for NDB, the cross country team accomplished many of their goals and will continue to cherish the memories they shared this year while preparing for the season in 2024.
