The boys cross country team is preparing for their sectionals at Mt. Vernon on Oct. 19. They are showing their confidence that they’ll make one of the top teams.
Senior Byron Norris says that he feels confident that they will be at least one of the teams to make it past sectionals.
“If I break 17 [minutes] I’ll probably call my mom and tell her,” Norris said. “Once I do that my new goal will be to go 16:50 which is a minute faster than my last year time.”
Norris reaching this goal as a senior means a lot to him because “there is no next time,” he said. If he doesn’t reach the goal, he said he will have to make it up to himself another way.
“I’ll cope with that by running faster during track,” Norris said. “If I get a college offer I’ll consider doing cross country and track in college.”
The boys cross country team is going all out for the sectionals, feeling that their meets have been beneficial to them preparing for this moment.
“I feel like I’m prepared, considering I am already running faster than I did last year, so by the time we get to sectionals this year I should be way faster than I was last year,” senior Triston Evans said.
Coach Sean O’Brien expressed his confidence in his boys. He also mentioned that they have gotten way faster than they were before.
“All of our runners in our top seven are significantly faster than they were a year ago,” he said. “We just need to keep the momentum going as we move forward, and we’ll be where we want to be.”
With that, they are very much determined in hitting their team goals and personal ambitions for the sectionals. Having these goals drives them to become progressively better as a team and prosper as individuals.
Juniors Adrian Perez and Eli Carter both said that breaking 18 minutes in the 5K and making it to regionals would be a very monumental moment for each of them and their team.
Nevertheless, the boys not only gain influence from their teammates and their coach, but most importantly from their families to support them and their highest achievements.
“My mom is my biggest inspiration because I have seen her struggle as a single parent to provide the best life for me and my sisters so I try to repay that to her,” Norris said.
With that, Evans has a different story of why his mom is his biggest influence.
“My mom is my biggest influence because she has been my number one fan since one,” Evans said.
Coach O’Brien has been coaching the boys cross country team for eight years and coaching in general for 10 years.
The reason for it is because he ran cross country from middle school through college. Not only that, he went to Warren himself. With that rubbing off he wanted to return the love he got and dedicate his time to boys cross country.
“I went to Warren and the program means a lot to me, so I always wanted to come back here and have my students and athletes get the same experience that I did,” he said. “I love it. It’s my favorite part of my day. Just something I’m very passionate about.”