The 2025 cross country team is starting off the season with great power. This year’s small team consists of three seniors, one junior, four sophomores and one freshman.

    Senior Wesley Jackson is in his fourth year running cross country. He placed 10th in the district last season to qualify for the state race. 

   Jackson hopes to make his last year the best year yet. His personal goal for this season is to beat the school record. One challenge that he faces while running is keeping on running. 

   “You have to, like, keep running, which sucks because it is really dang hard,” Jackson said.

 Coach Ehren Banfield expects his team to stay mentally strong. 

   “I expect hard work and determination. XC is a mental sport. Your weakness will show pretty quickly as you do not get a break or timeout during a meet. You have to stay mentally strong the entire way,” Banfield said. 

   One goal for his team is to see growth in his runners. 

   “My goal is pretty simple. I like to see growth with my runners throughout the season. Are they decreasing their time? It always helps when they have fun doing it,” he said. 

    Senior Brayden Henderson is in his fifth year doing cross country. Henderson is disappointed on how many boys are on the team this year but he is still having fun. 

   “Our boys team this year is a little smaller than years past, which is unfortunate, but I still enjoy the teammates I have,” he said. 

   Henderson is going to make his last year the best yet by pushing himself harder than he has in past years. One goal he has for himself is to run sub 20. A goal he has for the team is to win the Warsaw home meet. One challenge that he faces while running is the mental battle.

   “Every second, it’s a mental battle. Between giving up and pushing yourself harder,” he said. 

   Senior Trinity Sandstrom is having lots of fun this season. This is Sandstrom’s first year running cross country and she enjoys running with not only her teammates but also her friends. One goal that she has for herself this season is to run fast and prepare herself for track in the spring. 

   Junior Jasmin Myers is also in her fourth year running cross country. Myers has big goals for this season. 

    “My biggest goal for this season is to run the entire course at all the races without walking once, and I also want to get a time of 20 minutes or less,” she said.

    A goal that she has for the team is growing relationships and hopefully getting to state. 

   “My goal for the team is for everyone to improve and get closer to my teammates, and I am really looking forward to seeing more of our team going to state, that would be awesome,” Myers said. 

   One struggle that Myers has while running is mental confidence. 

    “Some of the challenges that I face during cross country is sometimes feeling like I don’t do good enough, especially while I run, and sometimes it gets in my head while I run and that is what sometimes makes me stop. Sometimes I also just get tired even though I know I can do more. My problem is that I just keep getting in my head,” she said. 

   Myers also believes that cross country should get more recognition. 

   “One thing many people mistake is that cross country is easy, because you basically just have to run, but one thing people mistake is that it is both mental and physical. To be honest, I feel like cross country runners need more credit than what they get,” she expressed. 

   Sophomore Maranda Myers is starting her first year being on the cross country team. She is enjoying cross country because it is pushing her to be mentally and physically better.

   “I never would have thought I would be doing cross country, but I’m glad I am because it is pushing me to be so much better and it is getting me ready for wrestling, and I love all of my teammates everyone is so supportive and there is never any judgment and we all push each other to do the best we can be,” Myers said. 

    Sophomore Wyatt Barckley is also in his first year being on the cross country team. Barckley is really enjoying this season. 

   “I love it, I like running,” he said. His biggest goal for this season is to achieve 20 minutes on his race. One challenge that he faces while running is his legs. 

   Sophomore Roman Sabella is in his third year running cross country. He is having lots of fun this season. 

   “It’s been pretty hot outside but it’s been fun,” he said. 

   A goal he has for himself is to enjoy the run and not try too hard. One challenge that he faces is getting side stitches. 

   Sophomore Brody Boggs is in his fourth year running cross country. His biggest goal for this season is to get sub 20. 

   Boggs enjoys running with his friends. 

   “I really like running with Roman and Wyatt because it’s fun to run with them,” he said. 

   Freshman Lindsey Fellers is in her first year running cross country. She is enjoying this season with how well the weather has been. 

   “It’s pretty good. The weather has been pretty good this year. Last year, my first meet was really rainy and I was super muddy, so it’s getting better,” she said. 

   One goal she has for herself this season is to get 3 minutes off her 5K. One goal she has for the team is for at least three runners to get to state. 

   With being the only freshman on the team she is enjoying meeting new people. 

   “I like meeting a whole lot of new people, especially the older ones,” she said.