Cross-Country Meet Held at Country Club
By John Earp
This Saturday, the Jal High School and Junior High School Cross-Country Teams participated in a meet held at the Jal Country Club. Teams from Dexter and Loving also participated in the meet. Head Coach Joe Cole said he is really impressed especially with how his junior high team is doing. In the first year for Jal Junior High having a cross-country team, Cole says he has about 20 runners. The junior high runners train and compete for a 1.5 mile course, while the high school runners do a 3.1 mile/5K course. The high school team was down to three runners this weekend, but the ones who did compete did well, according to Cole. “High school wise, yeah, we just haven’t had much of an interest in the program.” However, with the phenomenal interest in the program at the junior high level this first year, the future of Jal High School Cross-Country looks bright indeed.
Cole says probably the biggest challenge is getting kids to press through the feeling of “I want to quit” when running, to build up their endurance over time. Cole says he is trying to recruit 5th graders who are interested in running cross-country next year.
Some of the junior high runners Cole says have been doing really well include Emery Estrada, BryLeigh Lopez, and Zuleyka Leyva. The high school team did well overall against Loving, Eunice and Dexter, with Jal taking second place.
One thing Cole also noted that really made his heart happy was seeing his team spontaneously praying for each other before the run. While Cole is outspoken in his Christian faith in everything he does, he says it is so good to see his athletes doing this on their own, uncoached by anyone, showing their care for each other and their team spirit.