Cross Country is not a sport to be taken lightly: many runners will run six days a week for almost five months.  Working hard is something that every Cross Country runner knows well. But with Districts, and States coming up, some may be working for almost a month longer. 

Going to States has always been a dream for Hailey Embree (11). Embree joined Cross Country when she was a freshman and has worked for three years towards her dreams. She is making her dreams come true this year with some very impressive times. 

“I went to all the pre-season practices and I did stuff on my own too, such as running around my development,” said Embree.

Hard work is what it takes to do well in this sport and this has allowed Embree to compete well and place at many meets this year. At the Enos Yeager Invitational she placed 13th out of almost 200 runners. Based off of the performance Embree was hopeful for the upcoming season.

“I hope good. I mean it’s a little bit shorter, but hopefully good,” Embree said.

And that’s exactly what she did.  A few weeks later, at the Clear Spring invitational, finishing with an impressive time of 21:55 she placed 3rd out of hundreds of runners. 

Another runner getting awards this season is Claire Kriner (12).  Kriner has battled for many years triumphing and overcoming adversity.

“I was having issues with my hip. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to run or not,” said Kriner,” You just kind of have to push through it.”

Kriner has been battling with a hip injury for years, but that has not stopped her from putting up amazing times. She credits adrenaline for pushing her through every race and allowing her to compete. Her future races will depend on her hip injury. 

“I do hip exercises basically every night to help with my hip”, said Kriner. “Before meets I try to visualize the course and then when I’m running I remind myself of the little things.”  

Experience goes a long way in Cross Country and Kriner uses that to her advantage. She is able to utilize tangents on the course from her past experience, cutting seconds off of her time, and in Cross Country any time is valuable.

Both runners are competing in Districts next week with 10 other runners with the hopes of making it to the State running meet in Hershey, PA. Three teams of five to seven make it to States and then 15 other individual runners. The District race is set to take place on Saturday, October 26.