There are seven student-athletes on Nederland High School’s cross country team this season. According to Coach Gavin Coombs, the team is led by senior Trinity LeBlanc and junior Lukey Mahorski. Coombs is appreciative that LeBlanc chose to run again this season. She has been on the cross country team three of her four years in high school. Coombs also says that Mahorski is the heart and soul of the team.

Overall, the team is young and they are doing very well. Coombs notes, “Learning how to race is difficult, but fortunately most of our freshmen and sophomores have been running through middle school so they are not inexperienced.”

If students join the Nederland Middle School cross country team, they have the guiding hand (or feet) and expertise of Coach Kathy Butler. The cross country coaches that Nederland has with Coombs and Butler are top-notch with their experience and knowledge about the sport.

Coombs says that with only two boys on the team they do not have enough to score as a boys’ team. However, newcomer sophomore Ben Weber has been exciting to watch. “He has a ton of potential and I am excited to see what he can do,” says Coombs.

The girls’ team of LeBlanc, Abby Hess, Eliza Brundege, Amika Begin, and Gray River Pearl have been progressing throughout the season. Coombs says, “We always measure our success on how we are progressing and not necessarily the events of an individual race.” They are excited to see what they can do as the season wraps up.

These runners run 3.1 miles (5k) at each meet. Cross country is a challenging distance because one cannot sprint that distance, yet the runner has to work hard the entire time and be very intelligent about how they run the race. Coombs adds that a runner can train their body to do what it needs to do, but “the skills that a cross country runner needs tend to be more mental than anything else.”

Coombs continues, “My two favorite characteristics are determination and courage. You have to be determined to go out and work hard, but also have the courage to know that the race is going to hurt but that you can get through it. Running is one of the few sports where your main competitor is yourself and that is one of the things that makes it so hard.”

Coombs cannot say enough about how great the kids are on this team. “We consistently have some of the highest achieving students on our team and their dedication to their school comes through in their dedication to their extracurricular activities too. They work hard, strive to improve, and are just great kids to work with. It’s an honor to get to work with them.”