Zach Picton is an active member of the boys cross country team this year at Riverside Brookfield High School.

“I have been running for a few years and I have always liked it. Also I don’t get into many other sports so I decided this would be the one that I tried hard at,” said Picton. He looks forward to a great season. He is really enjoying cross country, and especially the people in it.

“I think the people are my favorite part of cross country. All of my teammates and coaches are very nice and fun to be around,” said Picton. But of course, teammates are not the only part of cross country. Cross country is all about getting ready for long races and getting faster and gaining more endurance.

“We usually have stuff to do on Monday through Saturday. The meets are usually on Fridays or Saturdays,” said Picton. He goes to practices and meets frequently throughout the week, sometimes every single day of the week besides Sunday.

The team’s practices start off with stretching and warming up. Next, the team runs the distance that they will be running in the next meet. And last, they do core exercises and sprints.

“I haven’t won any races individually, but the team has won a couple of them,” said Picton.

Although cross country may seem like an individual sport, it definitely is not. People on the cross country team focus on finishing in a higher position, but they also make sure to encourage each other and have a high score as a team.

Before a race, runners are encouraged to eat something, and they have to do sprints to get warmed up.

There are 28 people on the boys cross country team here at RBHS, so there is quite team this year.

“There is usually an audience at the meets, it includes friends and family and even some random students from school to come support the team.” said Picton. The  RBHS home meets are held at Sundown Meadows. Unfortunately, Zach sprained his ankle in a recent meet and will most likely miss out on a couple of practices or meets.