Like the boy’s cross country team, the girl’s cross country is also a ragtag group of friends united by a lack of ability in “Normal” sports. Unlike the boy’s  team, the girl’s team is lacking myself as a participating athlete, therefore my knowledge of the team as far as what makes them who they are is limited. To compensate for my gap of knowledge, I reached out to senior and captain Avery Parker in order to become highly informed on the function of her team. I now present to you my best attempt at describing the Academic Magnet Girls Cross Country Team.

First of all, their captains are Avery Parker and Allyson Smith. Like all captains they have their strengths and weaknesses. For example, Allyson is allegedly incapable of doing jumping jacks. A witness describes this ordeal as a “little bird” jumping up and down without coordination. As captains, they have responsibilities such as leading the team in warmups and guiding the rest of their team on their long runs. These long runs are filled with entertainment in the form of “Storytime with coach Josh” as he captivates the team with his epic tales. They also love to have fun in the form of melted popsicles and their yearly tradition of “not so secret sisters”.

The glue that holds the team together is Coach Hooffstetter. As an athlete that has been coached by her during track and field, I can truly attest for her ability to maintain motivation and enjoyment in her athletes. Avery Parker claims that “she will always figure out a way to make things work in sticky situations”. Coach H has ample experience coaching under her belt as she was a coach at Wando High School before Academic Magnet. Upon reaching out to her for a statement on the team, Coach H said “We have many excellent runners on this year’s team. I am excited by all of the progress they have made”.  Coach Hooffstetter’s commitment to the team as a coach provides the fuel with which many of her athletes use to strive and improve week by week.

In summary, the team can be described as “supportive, quirky, and driven” as they are a not only a cross country team but also a tightly knit group of friends determined to push each other towards success. They even push the guys team towards success as we always make an effort to run faster whenever we are in sight of them. If you’re looking for a team to join next year, I highly recommend the girl’s cross country to both stay in shape and have fun.