Cross Country is a sport unlike any other. The dedication and discipline that it requires can come as a shock to most. That may be why the team at Fleetwood is so small.
In every Cross Country meet in Berks County, a race is 3.1 miles long (or 5K). The whole point of the sport is to be the fastest individually and also as a team.
Out of the boys’ and girls’ varsity teams, there were four athletes who stood out among the rest. Throughout the season, Branden Green, Casey Santos, Ryan Schlegel, and Holly Wagner all qualified for the 2011 District III AAA Cross Country Championships in Hershey.
In order to qualify for this race, at some point in the season the boys would have to run a race in under nineteen minutes. For the girls, the time was twenty-three minutes. These times came pretty easily for Green.
“I qualified the last two years, so now as a senior it’s like second nature,” Green said.
Schlegel qualified for the race for the second time in his high school career this year. He was the second runner to come in for the team. He qualified multiple times throughout the season.
This was also the second year for Wagner and Santos to attend the District III AAA Cross Country Championships. The two both qualified during their freshman year on their home course. Because of issues with the course length last year, distance was added this year and the struggle to qualify was intensified.
Santos qualified midway through the season at Schuylkill Valley and then again at the Berks County Championships at Kutztown University.
Wagner pushed her hardest in an intense finish at Conrad Weiser with only one race left. She ended up making the time by just a few seconds.
“The last stretch of the race was extremely nerve-racking when I heard my times being called out,” Wagner explained.
Although none of the runners qualified for states, they had an excellent season. Schlegel and Santos will be running again next year, and because of the switch from spring to fall with girls’ soccer, Wagner will no longer be able to run on the Cross Country team.
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The Tiger Times 
Posted on November 16, 2011 by thetigertimes
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