Entering a new school year means entering new sports seasons, and what better way to kick off the 2024 season than with Cross Country! A worldwide sport as of 1903, the first ever Cross country race was in 1898 in Ville d’Avray, France. This season brings us in a new crop of runners, like Freshman Trek Snyder, Sophomore Cayden Eatmon, and Senior Luke Culwell. Trek Snyder’s goals for this season are to make it to state, place top 5 for varsity, and have a great time with the team. Snyder prepared for the season by running 372 miles over the summer. Trek said, “My favorite thing about Cross Country is running for the finish line.” The over all greatest time for Poteau boys is 16:04 in 2023. This record is held by Tyler Baker. Trek said he is excited to try and make it to state and regionals. “A skill I have is to be able to endure the pain of running far distances.”, Trek stated.
Cayden Eatmon is looking forward to the new season, stating that he is most excited to go to state, along with setting a goal to beat his personal record. He expressed his enjoyment of running with his friends. Cayden voiced his opinion on this year’s team by saying that “I feel pretty good. The team is really good.” Cayden believes that the distance he and the team ran will help them succeed this year.
Setting foot in his last year of high school sports, Luke Culwell said, “I am excited to train hard with the team and hopefully set a new PR.” He thinks that the summer training he’s done will improve his race time and help him better contribute to the team. “Our worth ethic is one of our greatest strengths” Luke claimed. A skill he believes he has to succeed this season is his 4 years of running, training, and has a strong awareness of pacing during races. Luke’s expectation for this year is that the times will lower as the season progresses.
