Meet the AMHS Boys Cross Country Team!
Hot Questions for Various Members of Your School’s XC Team
The AMHS boys cross country team has been an esteemed program at magnet for a long time – with many state titles and great coaches upholding this reputation! Oftentimes, a team becomes an entity of its own and the importance of the individuals is overlooked. In this article, I seek to render a better understanding of the team dynamic and brotherhood.
I began by asking questions to two of the team captains (Marshall Fleming and Carter Limbert):
As a captain, what do you think the greatest downfall of our team is?
Marshall: A lot of the new members on the team don’t know how to race smart, but those of us who do are trying to teach them how.
What is the story behind “The PR-Chain”?
Marshall: I went to Lowes at like 8:30, and they close at 9:00, and I bought three feet of chain, an anchor tassel, and gold spray paint. I hung it from a tree in my back yard and painted it…anyone who gets a PR gets to don the chain.
Alright Carter, as a captain, how do you predict the season is going to go as a team?
Carter: I think it’s gonna go well. We have a huge group of about eleven guys who are all fighting for the top seven, and I think they’ll push themselves to all be better.
I’m asking Peyton (freshman and son of previous XC coach, Bryan Johnson) the same question: With 24 hours to prepare, who would win in a fight between your dad (the current XC coach) and Peyton’s dad?
Carter: With 24 hours to prepare, I would have to say my dad. He would set up traps or something in that amount of time.
These are certainly interesting findings, considering Peyton’s response to the same question: I think it’d be pretty close…very interesting fight…I don’t know – my dad’s pretty good at making traps, not gonna lie.
I also asked senior, Pedro Araujo, a more controversial question: You recently expressed your opinion that black beans are the best beans, would you like to elaborate?
Pedro: That’s what my mom used to make me for lunch and dinner. Also, I just think they taste the best out of all the beans I’ve tasted.
Excellent to hear that one of our runners is so passionate about such a nutritious food option!
Moving down to the Junior class, I asked Noah Boudolf : As a junior, do you find it difficult to balance your current varsity spot on the team with your academics?
Noah: Not that much, but it can definitely get tough when tests and quizzes stack up next to hard workouts.
Also, do you forgive me for not yet buying you a special donut despite my promise to do so this summer?
Noah: It’s pretty disappointing, because I came to practice during the summer and I put in lots of time and effort in for the team and was not rewarded for my actions.
I’m sorry, I will be better, I will fix this.
On a less self-deprecating note, I questioned sophomore, Colin George, about the team chemistry.
How do you like the team culture/ bond?
Colin: It’s such a great…it’s such a great [struggles to say “kinship”] *nervous laughter*
Don’t worry, I can edit this out.
Colin: No no no, I want all of this in the paper – I want THIS in the paper…I think it’s a really cool culture we have as a team. Having all that time over the summer to bond. Seeing the guys every day, it’s a cool thing that we have.
Is there any weird, wacky, or uncomfortable inside joke that you would like to share in the school newspaper?
Colin: Oh there are so many! Um…I guess there’s [insert inside joke that is inappropriate for school newspaper here]. Or, you know, who is the monkey? What is the monkey? How does the monkey?
For reference, our team likes to adopt what we call a “monkey mentality” during strenuous workouts. This is because monkeys are simply strong and do not have a concept of weakness or fatigue. We frequently let out “oohs” and “ahs” to motivate one another. Many moving concepts like this exist within our team.
So there we have it, a clear representation of the boys cross country team. If you know a member, let them know how much you appreciate their hard work for a sport that carries so much school spirit. As a captain myself, I see loads of potential on this team. Competitively, we are going somewhere great. As a family, we’re already there.
I would like to finish my article with an image of the team transcending this newspaper and obtaining a spot in Moultrie News. This small article exemplifies the hard work and success of the team, and it is certainly worth a read:
