On October 18, the cross country team finished in 7th place out of 8 at the Cap 8 Conference meet. Now the top runners on the team turn their attention towards Regionals. Over the next few weeks, members of the team will be evaluating their performances from this season, hoping that they can turn next year into a more positive result.

Head Coach Melissa Schug is content with how her top runners performed this year, and hopes that next year they can pick up right where they left off.

“I think this year was successful. We didn’t place that well in Cap 8, but as individuals I think the kids did well,” Coach Schug said. “I hope that next season my top runners can come back at the beginning of the season where they are right now.”

Senior captain Alec Ashforth feels that the team could have performed better this year. He believes that the team underperformed compared to their potential.

“I am a little bit disappointed in my times this year. I don’t think we were really competitive this year,”Ashforth said. “I think we had all of the tools to be successful, but none of us ran the times we needed to become a great team this year.”

Even though the team struggled in the conference meet, there are still high hopes for next year. Wakefield is entering a new athletic conference in which the competition seems to be lighter.

“Since we didn’t finish in last at Cap 8, it was a success. We are in a new conference next year, so it will be easier to win,” sophomore Nick Giron said. “However,we are going to need some of the freshmen to be as good as the seniors that are leaving if we want to win.”

Although the team had a below average finish at the Cap 8 meet, junior Garret Dixon is still very proud of what the team accomplished.

“ I think that, for such a small team, we did well in our conference, and I’m happy we didn’t finish last,” Dixon said. “I definitely think that my performance could’ve been better, but I’m not necessarily disappointed. We tried our hardest, but some of the other teams outclassed us. Since we didn’t get last, I think we did really well.”

Dixon also believes that next year’s results will be better, but he believes there is still more work to do.

“I expect a lot from the team next year because we are in an easier conference, but a lot of people need to step up so that we can achieve that,” Dixon said.

Placing high in the conference is the team’s goal for next year  , and it will take a lot of work for the team to accomplish this. Even though Ashforth will not be a member of the team next year, he has plans to help the team succeed.

“I think that the team needs to put more miles in over the summer. I think our group is beginning to get enough talent; we just need to put in more work over the summer,” Ashforth said. “The practices need to be ramped up. I want to try to help the team get better as much as I can.”