Both boys and girls cross country had a great run in their previous seasons, and are even more hopeful for what’s to come this year. The team won districts in 2021 to advance to the state championship meet. Also, five of the varsity runners placed top 30 to attend state as an individual competitor. 

“Last year my personal accomplishments were mostly just my times. My goal was to run under 19 minutes which I did end up achieving with my pr of 18:52. An accomplishment we had as a team was winning a meet. The boys won one meet last year at Washington,” said varsity runner Tyler Willenbrink. 

St. Dominic cross country has many goals for this upcoming season. The program is very determined and hopeful for this year. This season they would love to win districts again and place in the top 4 at state as a team. 

“Last year I placed 2nd in a race towards the end of the cross country season. When I started cross country I knew I would never have been able to do anything like that but with all of the training everyday after school I improved so much I knew it was becoming more and more possible”, said Kyle Buretta. 

Being a student athlete is a challenge. Before practice starts at 4 o’clock everyday, a lot of the runners will use that time to study with each other. Having a good study and sport balance is a crucial part in being a student athlete at St. Dominic Highschool. 

“Running on the cross country team was very fun although there were some challenges. The main challenge was managing my schoolwork with my practices. I did my homework after practice which was hard because I was usually very tired. It was all worth it though because of the friends I made and the fun I had running cross country for St. Dominic”, said senior Addie Biehl.

The four pillars of St. Dominic play a huge role for the team. The cross country team alone is a great community with students who continuously push one another to be their best. The runners are also all good friends who service the school by cleaning up around  the track at every practice. 

“Our team represents the pillar of prayer by praying the Runners Prayer as a team before each meet”, said Abby Ryan. 

Being a senior on the team is big, especially this season because there are very few seniors and most of the team consists of underclassmen. 

“Being a senior on the team this year is a blessing. All of the underclassmen look up to me. They are some of my biggest supporters. It means a lot that I’m able to encourage them to do their best”, said Willenbrink 

The cross country program at Saint Dominic is very connected. With as close a team as them, they are bound to do great things in the 2022 season.