By: Breanna Mathes
From August sixth through October 27th the sport of cross country was in session, starting at the heat and humidity of summer through the chilly and windy weather of autumn, along with all of the crazy and unpredictable temperatures Missouri supplies in between.  Despite the climate, the cross country runners practiced day in and day out, taking one step after another in whatever atmosphere was present.
Cross country is different from most sports, and many people really don’t understand what it is.  Unlike volleyball or softball, examples of other fall sports, cross country does not take part in back-to-back competitions.  Really, the closest thing to back-to-back races are when they take place a few days after each other, which is not common. Most of the time, cross country meets are once a week, nearly all on Saturdays.  Also, another thing very different from other sports is the fact that they don’t have many home meets, (at least here at Farmington), therefore, many people in Farmington are not able to watch them regularly.  Plus, the cross country team is co-ed in comparison to most other sports that are separated by gender. The boys and girls do not race against each other, but they do practice together. However, perhaps the most prominent difference of cross country compared to several other sports is the fact that it is individual and team oriented.  The goal is to score the least amount of points compared to the other teams, like golf, for instance. In order to score points, you must have five runners. The higher up you place, the less points you receive.
The cross country team had lots of success this year, including both the boys and girls placing first at the Fleet Feet Classic in Arnold and at their Conference meet, the Potosi Invitational.  In addition to their first place wins, they also took part in going to places a farther distance away such as the annual Forest Park XC Festival, a meet in Illinois called the Edwardsville Invitational, and even an overnight trip to Lawrence, Kansas hosted by Kansas University named the Rim Rock Farm Classic, in which took place on a course engineered for cross country running.
The featured photo is a picture of the runners that competed in the sectional race on October 27th, 2018.  The theme this year for the cross country team was: “Run like your life depends on it!” in which was based off of the Jurassic Park movies and what their float for the Homecoming parade was decorated, along with what their “race day” t-shirts were themed.