Rain or shine, the Cannon Falls cross country members have no choice but to dig down, give each race their all, and try to finish quickly. Their stamina was proven by the first meet of the season this year, when the team ran through pouring rain in Stewartville on August 28th.

With a total of 5 meets completed so far, the cross country season is half over and Coach Ben Schopp commented that the first half was “Great, we’ve had a lot of new kids come out [and] we have one senior Karl Ritzman and great leadership among my juniors.” Sophomore Jenna Kremers maintained that “It’s going good and we’ve been doing pretty well.” Including the ten new additions this year, they’re totaling 22 members on the cross country team and as 6th grader Bella Davisson states, “It’s my first year and it’s going good… being able to run with all my friends, [and] making good friends.”

Freshman Payton Cooper claims that the reason she enjoys cross country is “It helps me run off my negative energy.”  6th grade newbie Maggie Bahr added, “Your legs get really strong…[and] you get in shape for basketball season.” When asked about her goals for the season, one captain, Katherine Hoffman, who has placed in almost every meet said, “To get my time lower…and make it to state.” Cross country members may  have many different reasons for choosing the sport, but even so, Hoffman emphasized  “Everyone’s kinda like a family, everyone supports one another.”