If there is strength in numbers, this year’s cross country team has strength in surplus.

The Free State cross country team is the largest it’s ever been. With over 80 members, the team has more than doubled from its almost 40 runners last year.

The cross country coaches have been trying to figure why the team grew in size. “We’ve been talking, as coaches, about that and we really can’t pin it down as to why so many kids are out this year,” Cross country coach Phil Mitchell said “I think it’s just that the kids we had out last year are very popular people”.

Free State is relatively bigger compared to other teams, “There are some teams that are very small and there are some teams that have well over 100 people,” Mitchell said.

For many runners, this is their first year doing cross country which leads to the challenge of figuring out how to get so many new runners started without hurting them. Regardless of the large number of new comers, the season is going great and expectations are high. “I think we’re going to be very good, with that many kids, we’re going to have some depth, we’re going to be really good at the junior varsity and c-team races and of course we’ve got a number of good varsity runners so it should be a pretty good year,” Mitchell said.

Many veteran runners enjoy the larger team. “There are positives and negatives to having small and big [teams],” junior Hailey Donley said. “I like it big, though. You have a lot of energy coming from a lot of different places”.

Cross country is a very friendly and social sport ”You get to talk to people and hang out with your friends,” sophomore Fletcher Koch said. “Other sports like basketball, you’re constantly in practice. You could talk but it would be a lot harder.”

Will this trend continue and lead to an even bigger team next year? “If it is, we’re going to have to get some more uniforms,” Mitchell said.