The Issaquah Eagles won several awards at the KingCo Championship Cross Country meet on Oct. 21 against various other high schools. Winning several rounds at this meet, the Issaquah Eagles have learned how to work with each other to their success. According to freshman spectator Makoto Sasaki, the Issaquah Eagles performance was described as they started hard and stayed hard until the end. They did not quit even when they were tired. They quit once they were done.

On the day of the meet, it was a wet and chilly day. The Eagles ran on the mud that was like quicksand, which was not ideal for running. However, our cross-country teams managed to get first place for the girls and second for the boys. Throughout the race, I was observing the teamwork involved in it, and I realized that cross country is much of a team sport rather than an individual sport. It takes teamwork and cheering to successfully win. Everyone had a great time at the game, and at the end of each run, our cross-country team cheered each other up and went on to do their cool-downs.

Sophomore cross-country runner, Connor Rickey was one of the members of the team that won an award at the meet. When asked how confident he was for this meet he said that “I think on a scale from one to 10, like a six.” He shares with us that he loves cross country, and he was nervous before the game; however afterward, he felt much better. He thinks that sophomore, Deshawn Watson, who is a runner and his friend, has inspired him and motivated him in practice, which brought out great results at the meet. Coach Mike Cobb says, “Everyone is willing to put in the effort to thrive in a meet. I was glad to see them run today”. Sophomore Ben Konopka says that on a scale of how nervous he was from one to 10 he chose eight. He was nervous before the meet because this was a championship meet and he had big expectations for himself. After the game, he was pleased with the results, like everyone else who participated.

Rickey and Konopka say that the best piece of advice they have gotten from their coach is: to breathe hard and run fast. Although the weather was not ideal for a cross-country meet the Issaquah Eagles had a good time in this meet. Due to their hard work and their coach, they were able to thrive in the meet.