It’s a new era for the Titan cross country team. For the first time in years, they begin the year without any college commits. Despite this, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about this season. The girls and boys teams feature quite a few young stars, looking to continue to improve their times and take control of the team.
Colby Groce, one of the few remaining seniors at the top of the boys team, spoke highly of the team’s youth.
“We’re trying to compete at the county level, but we’re also trying to bounce back from the mass exodus of seniors last year, and I think we’ve rebuilt this team a lot better than anybody thought we would,” Groce said.
The boys placed third last week in the city/county championship race at Ivey Redmon park in Kernersville and also had four boys earn all-county honors: Shane Cornett, Gunnar Douglass, Jack Harrison and Colby Groce. This solid performance is a testament to the leadership of the upperclassmen on the team, who are striving to make a difference.
“Goals for the team are the same as they are every season, we want to make each individual
runner better than when they started. While we are very young, the seniors and juniors on our
team have shown great leadership in guiding these younger guys,” coach Patrick Phillips said.
The girls share a similar story. The team has a very talented roster coming into the season that is loaded with young standouts. The girls team placed second last week in the city/county meet and what they lack in experience, they make up for in ambition.
“This season, our goal is to finish in the top six at the state championship meet and to continue to run new personal bests,” sophomore Dempsey Baldini said.
The results thus far are encouraging, as they had seven runners earn all-county honors last week: Chloe Siebert, Lillian Douglass, Dempsey Baldini, Lily Baugh, Abby Reutinger, Tatum Snow and Lulu Serang. That much success early in the season, combined with having a multitude of accomplished runners, should serve the girls team well in their hunt for success at the state level. That’s also a major reason why they’re a team to watch as the season progresses.
“The biggest part is just having the girls consistently show up and improve the times on their workouts and to have them becoming stronger and faster as the season progresses,” coach Sean Joyce said.
While for some, the thought of waking up each morning and running between three to 12 miles doesn’t exactly sound like a blast, there is always a big emphasis within the team of finding ways to make it fun.
“We can work hard and still enjoy ourselves, a lot of these kids enjoy just being around their peers. We, as coaches, have to understand that these kids are not getting paid to do this so there’s plenty to be gained by trying to make that as fun as possible whether that be playing little games or having incentives for doing really well, but the biggest thing is just having them out there and having fun,” Phillips said.
That goal is certainly being accomplished so far; to those who keep up with the team it is pretty clear that they enjoy being around each other and competing.
“The camaraderie amongst the boys and girls teams is really special to watch; it really is cool to come out and see them having fun,” team dad Martin Harrison said.
While the team is currently being driven by young talent, senior leadership still plays a major role. Groce takes this role seriously and hopes to leave behind a motto of toughness within the team.
“I want to leave a legacy of hard work and grit and know that everyday is not going to be easy but if you keep pushing through you’ll keep getting better,” Groce said.
Whether it be the up and coming runners, the high level aspirations or the sheer enjoyment of the sport and the team, this team has no shortage of reasons to be hopeful and looks to be an exciting group to watch all season long.
