* Ardrey Kell's Murphy Smith, who's vying for a Class 4A XC title this weekend
WATCH THE NCHSAA STATE XC CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE
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By Ashley Tysiac - MileSplit Correspondent
As North Carolina's best high school cross country runners and teams gather to compete for the state's top prizes in cross country on Friday and Saturday at Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville, their successes reflect a commitment to succeed together amid a global pandemic that has turned their season upside down.
It's the end of January, a time when most high school runners find themselves running laps on the track indoors. Yet due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic that has riddled the nation, North Carolina distance runners instead find themselves racing at 5,000-meters in the dirt and mud during the cold winter months.
The best teams and athletes found ways to succeed together during a pandemic whose prevention in general forced people to stay apart and caused athletes to make sacrifices within their own personal lives. Leesville Road (Raleigh, N.C.) senior James Blizzard never thought he would have to almost completely sacrifice his typical teenage social life to ensure he would be able to compete in a cross country race until now.
"Is it worth possibly putting somebody else out there at risk or is it giving me (a larger) risk of COVID going into a championship season or going into an abbreviated season?" Blizzard said.
As the 2020-21 North Carolina cross country season comes to an end on Friday and Saturday with the 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A state championships, it marks the end of perhaps one of the strangest seasons to date in the state.
One state-championship team felt the forces of the season just a day before states. Millbrook dropped out of its NCHSAA Class 4A title race due to an athlete contracting COVID-19.
Challenges brought about by the coronavirus made for an unprecedented cross country season that left coaches and athletes alike constantly adapting and hoping they could complete the season COVID-free.
"Every week that (our season) didn't get canceled, we were thankful," Leesville Road cross country coach Eric Gamble said.
North Carolina schools faced uncertainty heading into the summer months of 2020, typically a time for intense team preparation for a cross country season that normally starts with competition in August. Yet when the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) announced the postponement of the 2020-21 cross country season until November 4, 2020, due to unknown consequences of COVID-19, teams were thrown for a loop.
"We had to constantly adjust our plans and our goals to fit the moment," Cuthbertson (Waxhaw, N.C.) cross country coach Kirk Walsh said.
The new calendar outlined a season that began with competition on November 16, 2020, and ended with the state championship meets in late January 2021.
The winter season meant teams could not officially gather to train for most of the fall, leaving it up to the athletes to take the initiative to prepare themselves for upcoming competition.
Some schools adapted to the new measures by allowing experienced athletes to take the lead.
Walsh helped create a senior-led practice structure for his championship-caliber Cuthbertson team, where appointed seniors on the boys and girls teams led small practice groups when they couldn't meet off campus as a full team leading up to the start of the season.
But some programs struggled with the inability to meet as a group on campus for training and development. A.C. Reynolds (Asheville, N.C.) cross country coach David Honea said he faced obstacles trying to get his teams that had previously fielded regional and state meet caliber talent into full force during the preseason.
* Topsail's Kaitlyn Ombremski
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"The fact that we could not practice every day, (that) they weren't used to running every day, the message that the season didn't start until November, and that freshmen in particular had transportation problems when they weren't on campus for school all made it difficult," he said.
Nonetheless, schools moved forward with regular season meets come mid-November just a week and a half after the start of the season, yet teams had to take necessary precautions in order to compete and practice.
New COVID-19 protocols mandated by the NCHSAA and individual county school systems changed the look and function of practices and meets. Athletes had to complete symptom screenings before practices and teams had to follow roster cap guidelines to reduce potential COVID-19 exposure. Competition rules limited meets to four teams of seven people during the regular season, and larger meets like regionals and states required multiple sections to split the competition into smaller groups of competing runners, among other protocols.
"The fact that we could not practice every day, (that) they weren't used to running every day, the message that the season didn't start until November, and that freshmen in particular had transportation problems when they weren't on campus for school all made it difficult," he said.
All teams had to adjust to the changes efficiently to ensure the state cross country season could be completed successfully.
"There were some obvious impacts, like daily COVID screenings before every practice, masks shrouding faces, distancing, small races, wave starts," Walsh said. "All of it has been an annoyance, but we've adjusted and accepted the changes."
Programs also had to accept the scheduling changes -- a normally three-and-a-half-month cross country season turned into one spanning just two and a half months. The condensed season meant teams had to adapt to a heavier racing schedule, making for an abnormal training approach for many teams.
"It was an inverted model," Gamble said. "Normally we train a lot and then focus on hard racing. This year, we did most of our hard racing and then we had time to train."
Many schools competed in meets twice a week, often against the same few teams on their home courses instead of at larger venues like Ivey Redmon Sports Complex -- the site of the state championships -- and WakeMed Soccer Park -- home of the Nike Cross Southeast Regionals.
Yet perhaps most challenging was the lack of spectators at meets due to the pandemic. Athletes and coaches said they found themselves missing the cheers and encouragement from supporters that make races so exhilarating.
"I don't think I realized what a huge impact our fans have on our sport, and it's just not the same without their energy pushing us through the race," Walsh said.
Yet teams adapted to the abnormal racing climates, embracing their competitors and learning to appreciate the meet opportunities thrown at them. People tried to get rid of the monotony of racing against the same local teams and instead enjoy it.
"We gained an appreciation for our local opponents, since they were the only ones we ever saw," Honea said. "Coaches made races happen on courses that are rarely used for high school races, and we went all out in Wednesday afternoon tri-meets that we might have held the varsity out of in the past."
Despite the many challenges brought about by COVID-19 and the altered season, many teams found positive outlooks and messages to take away from the season. Though some coaches saw drops in athlete participation and motivation, some saw an increase as athletes saw practices and meets as an escape from the confines of home and isolated online schooling.
* Pincecrest's Carmen Alder, who's shooting for her third straight XC title on Saturday
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"On a positive side, attendance was phenomenal," Gamble said. "The athletes don't want to stay home all day. They want to get out. They'll come to practice when it's cold or rainy or whatever just to get out of the house."
And even though athletes found themselves often training without all their teammates and the presence of their coaches at practice, they learned to bond with each other in areas beyond running.
"They've learned to lead each other more directly, to talk openly about mental struggles, to resolve conflicts, to accept each other's shortcomings, and to adapt and thrive in changing circumstances," Walsh said.
Athletes even found themselves connecting with other runners beyond their own teammates. They found like-minded individuals going through the same challenges presented by the coronavirus-impacted season. Croatan (Newport, N.C.) junior Cooper Kleckner found comfort and support through sharing season experiences with other runners online.
"We gained an appreciation for our local opponents, since they were the only ones we ever saw," Honea said. "Coaches made races happen on courses that are rarely used for high school races, and we went all out in Wednesday afternoon tri-meets that we might have held the varsity out of in the past."
"A huge positive was the connections I was able to build with other runners," Kleckner said. "We all bonded over social media, becoming good friends with people I've only ever raced against."
For many, cross country became the most foundational part of their everyday lives during unstable times resulting from the pandemic.
"Regardless of the competitive result or how we feel in these days right after the season ends, I think all of us will look back in appreciation of the personal connections that the teams and practices provided when a lot of other stuff disappeared," Honea said.
In a season full of what-ifs and precautionary measures, athletes and coaches came to appreciate the little things - new personal connections, commitment to the sport and simply the opportunity to train and race with others.
Surely, no North Carolina distance athlete could have foreseen themselves toeing cross country start lines in 30-degree weather during the middle of winter. But coaches and athletes felt lucky to even have the chance to race, practice and bond during uncertain times.
"It helped athletes and coaches develop a deeper appreciation for every opportunity," Gamble said.
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