For the second straight year and third time in the past four years, the boys cross country team saw a participation increase. Now up to 122 kids, the cross country team is one of the most popular athletics offered at Libertyville.
At 122, the attendance is at the highest in head coach Mr. Mark Buesing’s 14-year tenure as coach. Even at a new record number, he is still optimistic the number can continue to grow.
“I hope more kids can discover what running can do for them,” Mr. Buesing said.
Part of the reason the overall attendance is so high is because of the no-cut atmosphere and the fact that anyone with any talent or ability can participate.
“We encourage runners of all abilities [to run cross country],” Mr. Buesing said.
Other sports are quick to cut athletes that do not have the build for that sport, but in cross country, each runner is able to show his ability on a daily basis.
Another reason for the added attendance to cross country is that runners can see their improvement on a daily basis. Every Saturday in season, the team has an invite that includes cross country teams from schools all around Lake County. Because every week includes at least one chance to improve the runner’s PR (Personal Record), runners have that drive to lower their time constantly.
“Absolutely [there is a benefit to seeing your PR]. Every single week, every single race, every person on the team can see improvement,” senior varsity member Max Roberts said.
Running is also something that builds positive habits from a young age. When the season is over, runners are able to keep training for the rest of the year. It doesn’t matter what the weather is, all that is needed for runners is some open space, and that will never change. Even after students are long gone from LHS, running can still be a part of their life, and for many adults, it is. Running has been around forever, and will still be one of the healthier habits in a hundred years, so these 122 kids are starting early.
“I will keep running, and I bet a bunch of the kids [that are on the team] will keep running, too,” Roberts said.
In the last few years, cross country attendance has been climbing on a yearly basis, and that is not expected to stop. Since 2005, cross country participation has witnessed a 179 percent increase. With the team growing from 68 kids to 122 in a 9-year stretch, that leap probably can’t be expected to happen again, but the program still seems to have room to grow.
When asked why the cross country attendance is so high, Mr. Buesing said he believes part of it has to do with the coaches who “make running enjoyable.” An example of making it enjoyable is having games and competitions on a daily basis at practice. Instead of just a monotonous run every single day of the week, runners do things like a scavenger hunt. In the hunt, they are given a list of things that are scattered around Libertyville that they need to run to and figure out the answers to those questions.
Some kids may like the healthy habit aspect, some the competition, and even others the fun doing it, but no matter what the reason, the cross country attendance has consistently grown with no end in sight.
