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The Fair Grove Middle School Cross Country Team has already competed multiple times this season with the boys team placing in each meet.
The Fair Grove Middle School Cross Country Team is run by head coach Jalen Supancic, teacher in the high school, and assistant coach Shiawa Page, elementary teacher. The middle school cross country includes 7th and 8th grade, and has five 7th graders and ten 8th graders.
Practices for the middle school cross country team are very similar to the high school cross country team. Page said, “The student athletes practice each day after school with the exception of meet days. Practices last about two hours.” She continued, “We always start with a mix of static and dynamic stretching and move into activation. Our runs are a mix of speed work, endurance, and recovery runs. We mix in some core workouts to build core strength.”
Supancic furthered, “The team attended all workouts with the high school this summer and has put in a lot of extra mileage so that they can improve their times and prepare themselves to run in high school. Our middle school athletes actually run a shorter race than the high school. They will typically run a two mile course, to which we have some pretty fast athletes.”
The Middle School Cross Country Team has put in a lot of hard work this season and have been placing well due to it. “Cinch Dowling (8) has the fastest boys time with 11:51 for a 2 mile race. Keira Marion-Swan (7) has the fastest girls time with a 15:18,” Supancic stated.
From the meets that have already happened, the Fair Grove Middle School Cross Country Team has been placing well. “We’ve had several boys place in their races with Cinch Downing placing in the top three in all of his races. Tyler Whitehead (8) has medaled in all of his races this year,” Page revealed. “The boys team has placed in each meet, getting 3rd at the Strafford Invitational, and 1st at the Fair Grove Invitational. As well, Kiera Marion-Swan ran at her first meet at Hollister and placed 10th,” she continued.
The middle school team is more than just the hard work at practice, they also have a passion and love for the sport that allows them to excel. “Our middle school team has a lot of passion and energy for competing. They directly follow the lead of our high school athletes and show up to practice everyday ready to work and improve,” said Supancic. “They are also working hard in the classroom to make sure they are maintaining grades and building strong relationships with teachers and other students,” he stated.
The Fair Grove Middle School Cross Country Team is strong this year, and is setting up for the future high school cross country team. Supancic said, “Our boys have multiple athletes who will be able to step in and compete at the high school level. We are even beginning to blend some workouts so that our middle schoolers can see what they can do when they push themselves. There is definitely a bright future in fair grove cross country!”
There are five meets left in this season, including a Middle School State Meet on October 22nd.
