By: Zoie Taylore

Running six plus miles a day is a personal hell to most people, but for seniors Josiah Johnson, John Ebers, Colin Baker, and the 200 other members of cross country it is mentally stimulating and physically, no big deal.

But the actual running part just skims the surface of what this colossal team is all about.

“I enjoy the people very much,” Baker said.

All three seniors shared this sentiment. Along with their love of spaghetti feeds.

“Cross country is different from other high school sports,” said Johnson, “It’s not about how well you can strut. It’s not about how nice your jersey looks. It’s not about how many DFA members came out to cheer you on or how many times you see your name in the paper. It’s not even about winning. Cross country is about developing mental toughness and learning how to work towards a goal.”

The LSE cross country team has a lot of passion, skill, and love for what they do. It may be the most underrated sport out there. Especially when you know how much work goes into preparing for races.

Practices are after school for two hours. The team warms up all together then, depending on whether it’s an easy or hard day, they run somewhere between four and six miles, or do faster miles in increments.

The team as whole has a few goals that they are excited to achieve – such as making it to state, and winning state. And then of course, beating Southwest, which last year they did at state.

With the season just starting, there is still plenty of time to go to a meet, and experience the fervor and dedication that is Lincoln Southeast Cross Country.