In 2024-25, a total of 872 athletes participated in sports at Derby. Most of which would tell you their least favorite time of year is preseason conditioning. 

For cross country, it’s the opposite. 

During their season, some members of the cross country team run about 50 miles per week. 

In the summer, senior Rowan Ake and junior Ben Perry gathered a group of athletes who had workouts six days a week when they ran a combined 55-60 miles. They lifted weights twice a week on top of it. 

The older members on the team never thought of it as work.

“I get to see myself and all my teammates improve through the summer, and it gets me excited for the season,” junior Ellie Rinn said. 

In the midst of their fun, first-year runners are learning to adapt to this new team and rigorous schedule. 

“The distance had to be the worst part of high school cross country at the beginning,” freshman Remi Griblin said. “The middle school was a team… the high school is more of a family, and that’s what has made me stick with it.”

The returners try to make it as welcoming as possible. 

“It’s all about making connections early. If they make connections they are more likely to buy into what we are trying to set and achieve here at Derby, in a little sport that isn’t football,” sophomore Ethan Smith said. 

Although cross country is more about bettering yourself and running your own race, the group has tried to switch that mindset. 

“It’s important to build that team dynamic as early as possible, even though it’s more of an individual sport,” Ake said. “The more you run together the better you’ll race together.”

Although they didn’t have to be there, the team bought into what these captains were doing.

“We just try to show the younger guys that progress isn’t linear, and that we didn’t get to where we are overnight. It took all this hard work and all this time to get to where we are,” Ake said. 

While the running in the summer builds endurance, the main focus is about building a mentality. 

“That’s the hardest thing we do. If we can show up and run all summer and build our work ethic, the mental aspect of races will be nothing,” Ake said. 

The mental aspect of running becomes almost more important than the physical aspect of running when it comes to races.

“The mental side of running is crucial, because it makes or breaks your performance. Running is more of a mental battle than it is physical,” Perry said. 

The types of mental fatigue runners can suffer from during races are abundant. 

Perry said sometimes it’s just general mental fatigue from school and or work, and it has nothing to do with actually running at all. He said those are the easiest to get rid of. 

Another mental fatigue runners face is the internal fight to push themselves more or to give up.

“Many athletes are very physically talented but where we differ ourselves from other teams is our mental toughness, and unwillingness to give up,” Perry said.  

Perry, along with Smith, have led the cross country team to a 4th place finish and a 1st place finish in its first three meets. 

“I focus on making moves, staying focused and relaxed and just simply running as fast as I can,” Perry said. “I know I’ve trained well and I am very fit; I try to tell myself this when the race gets hard.”

Perry does himself a favor by keeping the race out of his mind in the time leading up to it. 

“I have found it also helps to not think much about the race in the hours leading up to it, and just focus on having fun with my team,” he said.