Runners take your mark, get set, go! The gun sounds as nine members of the Wayland High School cross country team start their 3.1 mile journey at the MIAA Division II State Championship, which took place on Nov. 19 in Fort Devens, MA.

Depending on the meet, cross country consists of different events. During invitational and dual meets, freshman and junior varsity team members can participate in 3Ks and 4Ks as opposed to the traditional 5K, which is a 3.1 mile race. However, the state championship consists of only the 5K race, which all nine competitors ran during their time at the meet.

This year, the entire boys varsity team qualified for the MIAA state championships, including senior captains Thomas Creavin and William Morris, juniors Daniel Narvaez and Michael Wightman and sophomores Owen Williams, Luke Chisum and Will Jackson. In addition, the girls team sent two team members to states: senior captain Bella Thoen and sophomore Arya Samaratunga.

“We were able to qualify the [boys] whole team this year rather than just Luke [Chisum] and I,” Williams said. “It was a lot more fun training with them for longer and racing with them for their last race at states. I was a little less than a second off of being a state all-star, so I am pretty disappointed with the fact that I was so close, but we still had a good race.

Although both teams have varsity rosters of seven, the process to qualify for big invitational meets requires more than just varsity status. The qualification process relies heavily on personal race times and how runners placed in previous races.

“For some meets, you have to get under a certain time [to qualify],” Samaratunga, who placed No. 39 at States, said. “To qualify for states, you need under a certain number of people in the DCL.”

Training and practices take up a crucial part of the season in preparation for meets. However, cross country training looks different, as the team trains all season for long distance events.

“Training over the summer and going into the first six weeks of the season is a lot of running,” Williams said. “It’s 45 or more miles a week in the heat of it, but before states both years we really don’t train as much and we taper to rest and get ready,” Williams said.

According to some team members, the sport differs from typical team sports.

“It’s a really nice community of people,” Thoen said. “It’s just a really different sport because you’re running, something no one else likes to do.”

Throughout its season, the team competed in a variety of meets, ranging from typical dual meets to more competitive meets such as DCL’s and the state championship. A popular meet among the team was the Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational Meet, which took place on Oct. 15 in Falmouth, MA. During the meet, some runners competed in events during the evening, a shift from what a typical cross country meet looks like.

“We went to a meet called Twilight, which was at night in Cape Cod,” Thoen said. “That [meet] was really fun because it was really crazy. There were lights everywhere, and it’s fun running at night.”

For some teams, it takes more than just the sport itself to create a positive environment for its participants. In addition to competing at meets, some of the cross country team believes that the sport’s fun and supportive atmosphere is what makes it all the more enjoyable.

“I think the best part about cross country is the community because it’s a really non-toxic community and everyone is really supportive,” Samaratunga said. “Cross country is really fun.”

Some members of the team believe the skills learned from cross country are applicable in many other sports. Team members like Williams initially planned on participating in cross country as a way to prepare for other sports. However, Williams, placing No. 16 at the State Championship meet, has found success in an initially unlikely sport.

“I have been running since last year,” Williams said. “I originally thought I would just do it one or two years to get in shape for basketball.”

With most sports, upperclassmen step into leadership roles as captains to lead a team throughout the season. Thoen, who serves as one of the team’s captains and placed No. 76 at states, worked alongside her fellow captains to help lead her team throughout practices and meets.

“I think really [being a captain] was just about showing people your dedication to the sport, putting in the work every day at practice and going to every practice and just being a role model for that,” Thoen said.

One of the team’s main goals going forward is to qualify more people for states, especially members of the girl’s team. Although the cross country team is graduating some talent in the current seniors, the team is optimistic about what is in store for future years.

“I’m hoping, specifically for the girls team, that we can get more girls to qualify for states in the future,” Samaratunga said. “It’s definitely more fun when there is a bigger group of people at the meets.”