Cross country is one of the most underrated sports of all time, specifically at Sutton. Jennie Allen, the head coach of the team, talks the importance of the sport and how the teams will succeed this season.
Many sports have a very negative environment that in turn has a big impact on the athletes’ disposition, sometimes at first how they treat other athletes but eventually peers in general. Those kids on the team usually aren’t very close either. Cross country isn’t like that. It’s one of the most tight-knit groups of people. It’s an extremely positive, supportive environment, but we all work so hard and it pays off. There’s no better feeling than knowing the work you put in got you to a faster time, a better position, and most importantly, a win over the opposing team.
When asked about goals for the team, Jennie says, “My goals for the girls are to qualify for states and to gel as a team because I’m a big believer of strength in a team.” She believes that the girls will in fact qualify for states and that she is “pleasantly surprised” with all of her runners. Coach Jennie says she has the same goal for the boys, and she also expresses her sadness for losing multiple strong seniors last year. Despite this, she knows that the teams can still succeed.
As far as the teams’ rivals go, Jennie says that the Whitinsville Christian girls team “has a lot of talent, but I still think we can get them…they always look good. They’re always very competitive and very well coached. They’re probably our top competitor, but I also think they’re breakable.” She says that they tend to do better at the beginning of the season then taper off after the DVC meets whereas we just get started at that point because we conserve more during the entirety of the season. For the boys, she says, “Hopedale is another interesting team. They have numbers, but this year they’re actually mostly middle schoolers…Hopedale is hard to beat because they have three really good front runners.” For the rest of the season, she says she thinks the boys can defeat Douglas and possibly Nipmuc, but Hopedale will be difficult to reach.
The upperclassmen on the girls and boys teams have always been welcoming to new athletes. Each team member cheers on everyone else during races, even athletes on other teams, because we know how difficult it can be. After races, every runner always congratulates the other and provides support if someone’s had a bad run. We have pasta dinners before invitationals (away meets typically with hundreds to thousands of runners) and have a good time together.
In the long term, Coach Jennie hopes to build up the team and recruit more runners. One way she’s thinking of accomplishing this is by running a summer running program for younger kids—possibly 4th to 6th grade—at a track with the high schoolers volunteering. Jennie herself has been running since seven years old!
When asked what her favorite part of coaching the sport was, she replied, “Of course, the kids. I love the kids, and I love the environment. I love that someone who might not be the best or fastest runner can still be a big contributor to the team…I love how supportive and nice the kids are–the whole environment.”
Cross country is racing in its purest form, but the truth is that it’s much more than that. It is a bond of people unlike any other sport, a great environment, hard work, and ultimately so rewarding.
