This coming fall, AE/MS will have a cross country team for the second year. This year we’re very excited to have fifth graders on the team in addition to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. This will be the first time fifth graders will be able to represent the middle school in athletic competition.

If you’re not familiar with cross country, it is a team sport with no limit on team size; everyone on the team runs every race. Meets consist of multiple teams getting together and running two miles on trails.

Regular season meets have two to four teams at them, and “states” has 30 to 50 teams per race. Each finisher on a team scores points (1 point for first, 2 for second, 5 for fifth, etc.). The top five runners on each team have their points totaled, and the team with the lowest score is the meet winner.

Last year, we had a great time at four regular season meets and finished the year at the State Meet in Londonderry, with almost 3,000 middle school cross country runners.

This year the team will be back and better than ever. Practice will start on Monday August 11, at 6 PM at AE/MS. A typical practice starts with a short warm-up jog, usually on the nature trail or the rail trail. Once warmed up, we do some plyometric stretching and then some strength work like planks, lunges, push-ups, jumping, etc.

The main workout may involve a longer run, but many practices will revolve around running games like scavenger hunts, ultimate frisbee, relay races, leap-frog running, and whatever else we can come up with.

Andover Rec soccer players can do both sports. We had two athletes last year that did both, and they said that cross country helped with their soccer. Cross country practices and meets are usually over before evening soccer matches and practice.

If you can’t wait until August 11, there are informal training sessions on Wednesday evenings at 6 PM at Blackwater Park. Those are open to any middle school athlete looking to get ready for their fall season.