From their first meet on August 17, cross country runners understand the importance of their steadfast support for one another. The leadership of Frankie Nunn and the students themselves is crucial to team success.
Senior Jude Childress, who is savoring his final season, acknowledges how everyone unites to further their goals. Furthermore, since the recent retirement of Coach Carla Lilly, students have taken upon themselves to provide additional leadership.
“The fellowship of the team [has improved], [we’re] getting along with each other, [and we’re] there for each other when we need it,” Childress said.
Combined with their tight-knit team chemistry and common goal of qualifying for the state meet, runners have fostered a family-esque bond with each other.
“Cross country is like a family, [and it’s] a little different than [other sports],” said Coach Nunn. “You come out and you’re doing the same thing. They’re all running the same course, same event. It’s just a level playing field.”
At the recent Knights Crossing Meet in Salem, Virginia, Junior Ryder Poole ran the best 5000-meter time for a THS student in the past decade. His time of 16 minutes and 46 seconds holds a special significance to Poole.
“It was a great moment. I’d been working for that under-seventeen [minute] goal for a while. I made a huge improvement from [17 minutes and 50 seconds] to [16 minutes and 46 seconds],” Poole said.
“It was a massive jump, and it was an amazing feeling when I crossed that finish line,” said Poole.
Poole’s significant achievements helped establish him as a leader of the team, and he plans to help aid newer members of the team on their journey to success.
“I try to push [younger runners] at practice and show them the ropes because they’re newer on this team,” Poole said. “I hope I’m seen as a role model to them.”
Mentorship for the future is especially important for the team this season, as numerous seniors will be graduating this spring. Nunn hopes that runners can develop to fill the roles left behind with the help of those graduating this year.
“We’ve got great senior leadership this year. We are loaded with seniors. We’re going to lose about four of our top seven [runners],” Nunn said. “We’ve got some middle schoolers coming up to fill in some spots where we’re gonna be losing them,” said Nunn.
Tom Murrell, the head coach of Tennessee Middle School cross country, stays connected with students as they move on to high school, assisting in their transition.
“I maintain a relationship with athletes from 6th to 12th grade since in the past I have worked with the TMS track distance runners as a volunteer assistant,” Murrell said.
“Being able to do this facilitates the athlete’s transition from the middle school to the high school teams,” said Murrell.
In addition to his present coaching role, Murrell also played a leading role in creating the Steele Creek Park cross country course, which will be in action on September 28 at the Bristol Cross event.
“Coach Randy Irvin and I laid out the Steele Creek course in 1991,” said Murrell. “The meet began briefly as the Bristol Invitational but was quickly renamed Bristol Cross.”
As a home meet, Bristol Cross holds special importance to the team. In addition, the difficulty of the course impacts team preparation.
“We’ve been running fairly flat courses [recently], but now we’re coming back to Bristol Cross at Steele Creek, and it’s a fairly hilly course,” Coach Nunn said. “[It’s] probably one of the toughest ones in the state.”
Although the physical toll of cross-country can be exhausting to runners, everyone does the best they can to manage the load and ensure their season-long sustainability.
“[Cross-country] has taken a physical toll because my body is adjusting to running long distances and doing longer workouts every week,” said junior Jenna Reecher. “Luckily, I have a great team to help me through the hard practices.”
