By EMMA LAUS
Three meets in, the Beloit cross country team faces a promising future with the largest team it’s seen in recent years. The team started the season off on August 30 in Rockford, Illinois. The men’s team placed second out of four, while the women’s placed second out of three.
The size can be attributed to a combination of new recruits and students who were already at Beloit wanting to join. According to track captain and cross country member Aiden Cortinas’25, there are five recruits for the men’s team and three for the women’s. This is an exciting prospect for the team, given its small size throughout the years. “It’s funny because [five people] was, at one point, the size of the entire team on the men’s side,” he says. Students already attending Beloit have also joined the team; “that’s the cool thing: you can do that here, you can come and have no experience and learn and love it and you can get really good,” says Cortinas.
Although the team has grown in numbers, it is still one of the smaller sports teams on campus. This has helped form a close knit community among teammates. “We’re kind of this big family, and we have had a lot of fun times together,” says Cortinas. “…knowing that you have someone to look forward to talking to and to help you out when you need it, I think it’s really beautiful.”
However, having a larger group of runners can also benefit the dynamic between teammates; “you have a larger pool of personalities and that really adds to the whole dysfunctional family we have as a team,” says Cortinas, “there’s more room for us to work together… when you’re on a smaller team you have a tendency to get closer, but you have more people to push you when you’re on a larger team.”
In years past, the team was unable to place at meets due to its size. Watching the team grow throughout his time at Beloit has given Cortinas hope for its future; “it’s super cool to watch [the team] from not even being able to compete at meets to where we are at now, watching us climb those ranks,” he says, “it’s also kind of bittersweet too because for the preseason poll the coaches came together and ranked us last in the conference but I think we’re proving them wrong.”
He views this year as a turning point for the team, saying, “I feel lucky to be a part of this team. I think it is going to be the future for what lies ahead and if Beloit keeps going in this direction there’s a lot of promise.”
Featured Image: Beloit College
Leave a Reply