Chloe Ventura Ruvalcaba (’27) and Nissara Shah (’28) attach their bib numbers to their uniforms before the race starts. These numbers allow coaches and organizers to track the runners during a race, assist with timing and help with identification.

The cross country team waits in a line to do warm-up strides. Strides are short bursts of controlled, fast sprints. “[They] get your legs super warmed up, so that they are ready to go,” Coach Lilly Schmidt said. “They also enforce muscle memory so that correct form in a race just happens automatically.”

Co-captain Katie Ray McKillop (‘27) leads her team through a pre-race ritual. “I taught them about this thing called tapping, which is when you tap all of your pressure points to calm your nervous system before a race,” McKillop said. “I tell them they’re going to do great, I try to motivate them and I also bring snacks.”

Coach Phil Smith gives a pep talk to Asha Parry (’28) before the race. “I challenge each person to get better every day and take ownership of their own journey,” Smith said. “So not so much winning and losing, it’s just about, ‘Hey, if I ran a 29-minute three-mile in practice, the next day I want to run it in 28.5 minutes.’”

Runners from Brentwood School, Campbell Hall, Crossroads School, Viewpoint School and Windward School rush off the starting line on Sept 30 at Brentwood School, beginning the race. Smith said the team has to put in the work to be successful in a new league. “This is our second season in the Gold Coast League,” Smith said. “It’s more challenging because the competition is better.”

Asha Parry (‘28) rounds the first stretch of the Brentwood course. This year is her first season running cross country, and she says it has improved her well being in many ways. “It’s tested my perseverance and my ability to wake up early and do things I don’t want to do, but I think it’s made me a lot stronger mentally, but also physically,” Parry said. “I’ve also become pretty close with girls that I don’t think I would have without cross country.”

Coach Lilly Schmidt shakes out Farah Sandoval’s (’28) arms. The pre-race arm shakeout is a ritual she has practiced since she started coaching at Archer. “I just want the girls to stay loose, but also get their mind off of the race starting in five minutes,” Schmidt said. “I use it as a little bit of a distraction to center them, bring the focus to this moment right now and to make sure that they’re relaxed, not too tense.”

Sophomore Farah Sandoval makes a final sprint towards the finish line. As co-captain this season, she said that the support of a team is one of the most important parts of the sport. “You count your points as a team, and you run so much better when you’re running with your teammates,” Sandoval said. “It keeps you going.”