Every Saturday, for the past two months, the boys cross country team has competed in long distance runs against multiple teams. The race consists of 3.1 miles, or a 5k, and the goal is simple; complete the run as quickly as possible.

This season has been especially good for the Lions, as they recently became Seminole Athletic Conference champions, winning the conference meet. Last weekend, they competed in the Florida State University (FSU) invitational where they placed second out of the 35 teams competing.

A winner this season was senior Colin Aysun, who set a new school record in the 5k portion. He went 15:31.5, which is about a 5 minute mile, a very prestigious accomplishment. To run such a race is very impressive, and requires a lot of preparation prior to it. 

“To prepare I increased my weekly mileage in the summer, and focused mainly on threshold work with my team,” said Aysun.

He then one-upped himself again, running a 15:05.6 at the invitational and dropping nearly 30 seconds, placing 4th overall.

Another racer who competed at the Saturday race was junior Nathanial Watson, who placed 212th overall. With this season being his third year on the team, Watson has set a new goal to break seventeen minutes in the 5k race. Each meet, he gets closer, most recently running 17:15.1 as a personal record at the SAC conference championships.

When asked how he planned to accomplish his goal, Watson plans to work on the “mental aspect, because running’s not just physical…it’s so much on your mind.”

A newcomer to the team is sophomore Kenny Dayton, with this being his first year on the team. Despite this, he has swiftly found his place in the team and has set the goal to break nineteen minutes in the 5k by the end of the season.

“To achieve this goal, I’m going to start running every day, and start track in the spring to help me train for next year.” said Dayton, describing what he was doing to prepare for the upcoming season.

All in all, this season has been incredibly good for the Lions thus far, with many racers going personal bests, and becoming champions.