By Kayla Markowitz and Harshitha Kothapalli – News Editors

The girls’ and boys’ cross-country teams at Jonathan Law are three weeks into the season and are off to a great start.

The teams have already participated in three meets and are working every day to get better.

“The season’s going pretty well,” senior Claire Moulton said. “The frst meet was very good but there’s definitely room for improvement.”

This year, the teams are being led by Coach Beler and Coach Schulte. Head Coach Beler is ready to lead the team this year and he is excited for the season.

“The team has demonstrated a strong work ethic and we have shown constant growth every meet,” Beler said. “We are excited as we enter the competition portion of our season with meets at Winding Trails and Wickham Park as well as SCC Divisions and the Milford championships.”

This year’s captains on the girl’s team are Claire Moulton, Alana Pires, and Skye Hamilton. The boys’ captains are Tanner Matchett, Matthew Barrett, Aidan Hope, and Chris Rickard.

Matchett is ready to be a leader for the team and has lofty goals for the team and individually.

“My goals for the season is to improve my times each race and continue to lead by example as a senior and captain for the next athletes and upcoming runners,“ Matchett said. “My personal goal for the season is to hopefully break 20 minutes or even 19 as the season progresses and place well in SCCs and states.”

This year, the season started off a little rocky with back-to-back meets and constant schedule changes due to excessive heat and rain. However, the teams took it as an opportunity instead of a challenge.

“It definitely has been stressful but we have been starting dynamic workouts and jump rope at the beginning of practice to warm up our bodies in different ways,” sophomore Dulce Paz-Gomez said. “I can already tell it’s helping and bonding the team making us stronger going into our races.”

The team has been preparing for the upcoming season over the summer to be in the best shape possible.

“As a team, we prepared by having captains practice five times a week during the summer starting in late June,” Matchett said. “This gave us time to get into good condition when the season comes around.”

Both teams are excited to watch the growth of each of their teammates and are ready to encourage all members.

“My favorite part of being on the team is seeing my friends and teammates improve,” sophomore David Lickteig said.

Moulton and other captains are making sure all of their teammates are prepared and ready.

“We lead the team during runs but also make sure we always create a safe space for the team to talk if they ever need anything and we let them know we are here for them whether it’s running-wise or not,” Moulton said.