By Mayur Somalinga – Staff Reporter

Jonathan Law’s girls cross country team has raced into the season at a steadfast pace.

The team has already competed at six meets thus far, putting them half-way through the season. The mid-way point is a perfect time to set goals and that is exactly what senior captain Madeline Papcun has done.

“Personally, I just want to see every girl on my team running their best and achieving PRs,” Papcun said. “As a group, I know we want to stay competitive in our league, especially at SCC’s and states.”

The upperclassmen aren’t the only ones who have come up with goals for themselves, but so has the only freshman, Elizabeth Roos.

“I want to run at least a 25:00 this season and I’m going to keep trying hard at practices and keep pushing myself up hills – that’s one of the toughest obstacles,” Roos said.

The top 5 runners on average have been junior Kaylee Brotherton, junior Katelyn Konareski, sophomore Jenna Wasserman, sophomore Lauren Davis, and junior Jordyn Konlian. Brotherton’s best time thus far is 21:14 (at Winding Trails in Farmington, CT), Konareski’s best time thus far is 21:39 (at Winding Trails in Farmington, CT), Wasserman’s best time thus far is 22:45 (at Winding Trails in Farmington, CT), Davis’ best time thus far is 23:19 (at Winding Trails in Farmington, CT), and Konlian’s best time thus far is 24:40 (at Eisenhower Park in Milford, CT). 

As much as the Law’s girls cross country team is obviously known for running, they also orchestrate a lot of school spirit at Law by wearing their yellow cross country shirts to promote suicide awareness and being supportive of each other at their races.

“I think our team as a whole is very positive and upbeat, so we positively affect everyone around us,” captain Konlian said.

It is no surprise that in order to run the races and practices that the girls do, one definitely has to be very fit, active, and healthy. However, Brotherton believes that having mental strength is equally imperative to running cross country.

“Without a good head space you can’t concentrate on much during a cross country race,” Brotherton said.

According to Jonathan Law’s girls cross country coach, Mr. Schulte, the team has been doing very well thus far. Schulte aims to have the girls 5th in the league and be part of the top 5 at the class meet.

“They’re good kids, they’re enthusiastic, they don’t complain,” Schulte said. “They just do whatever we ask them to do.”

The way Schulte approaches coaching the team is very similar to how he did the year prior, however, this year he is having the team do more speed work and stay around the school more for their practices. 

“I think our team has bonded a lot this season and we continue to grow,” Konlian said. “I expect a lot from our team this year and everyone has been doing their best.”

Papcun preaches the importance of staying consistent and dedicated, especially for new runners.

“It was tough at first,” Roos said. “The practices were really hard, but as the season’s been going on it’s been getting easier.”

Schulte believes that the captains this year, Papcun and Konlian, have been leading the team very well. Konlian will assume her position as captain once again next season as she is a junior, however, for Papcun this is her last season.

“Being a captain has been an amazing experience, of course, it’s a lot of planning and organization, but my co-captain and I find a balance,” Papcun said. “It helps that we have dedicated, hardworking team members, helping us out.”