As the fall season comes to the end, there is one last sport to shine in the spotlight. During the weekend of Nov. 8th, the Fauquier High School (FHS) fall cross country team went to the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Cross Country State Championships. The boys team placed sixth and the girls team placed third, overall the FHS team placed ninth throughout the state.
A runner on the girls team, junior Gracie Gibson-Hanes, was a member of the girls team that went to states. Going to states was a new experience for some runners, Gibson- Hanes is not one of those people, Gibson-Hanes went to states last year with the previous FHS cross country team. Gibson-Hanes thought that she did pretty well stating, “I’m not completely happy with how I ran, though I did end up getting 15th place which is really good,” Gibson-Hanes contradicts. Though there were some things that Gibson-Hanes thought she could have done better she was proud that she got to go to states again.
On the boys team, junior Christopher Foreman, has gone to states two times before and is very joyous that he got the chance to go again. Foreman is very proud of his performance, yet like Gibson-Hanes, Foreman did not entirely feel prepared for the race. “I think I would of benefitted from preparing the day prior to going to states,” Foreman reflected. Foreman thought that he could have done a better job preparing before the race, he still did a great job during the race and even passed his personal record by a couple seconds which is a huge accomplishment. Foreman felt that the team did better at states this year and is super proud to be there.
The boys cross country team decided to bleach their hair before going to the state championship. It's a tradition for the wrestlers to bleach their hair, and the idea for the cross country team to dye their hair was introduced by Joel Williams, who ended up persuading the rest of the boys to dye their hair. Though there were some exceptions as some truly did not want to bleach their hair. The girls cross country team did not bleach their hair, they were going to dye a piece of the hair red, but the girls did not end up following through with that plan.
The team's bond has been strong throughout their season and going to states has strengthened it, but the team did not feel that they were fully prepared for the meet mentally or physically, “I think if we weren't all so in our heads, [and] we all were excited that it was states, … it could have been better if we weren't as nervous as we were,” Gibson-Hanes explained.
Though there were some things that the team could have done better, the team still persevered. Both the boys and girls team placed in the top tens which is an outstanding accomplishment for the team. States was the last meet for the cross country team this season, but they can walk away with the pride of getting to go to states this year.
