At my school I am in cross country and track. They are both very difficult sports, but I enjoy doing them. Here is some information on both of them.

Cross country is a sport of endurance and mental strength. Cross country races is run on a cross country courses. The courses are three miles long. I enjoy running cross country races more than track because they are out in the open, with lots of scenery to look at. The runners run in racing flats and their school uniform. There are two different types of cross country meets: dual meets, which is a meet between two schools, and invitationals, which has many different schools competing, sometimes even twenty! This year we had many of both invitationals and dual meets. I think I enjoy invitationals more because it is more exciting and there is a chance of getting a medal. This is my tenth grade year, and the first time I have done cross county. I plan to do it for the rest of high school also. For our practices, we run 4-5 miles every day, six days a week, lasting about 2 hours each. This year, because there are only freshman and sophmore at Vista Murrieta high school, we only have a Junior Varsity team, but next year we will also have a Varsity team, which is the highest level of high school cross country.

Click here to go to the Vista Murrieta cross country link.

Track has many different strengths, depending on which type you run, but all require the ability to push yourself to and beyond your limits. Sprinters require strong legs and speed. Hurdlers must be fast and be able to jump high while sprinting. High and long jumpers have to push themselves to jump higher and farthers, propelling themselves upwards and forwards. Shotputters and Discus throwers require great upper body strength. And distance runners require great mental ability and endurance to block out the pain, much like cross country. There are also relay events, which involve passing a baton from one person to the next with each person running a predetermined distance. I am a distance runner. For our practice, we run about 3-5 miles a day, about 2 hours long altogether, like cross country, though we only practice 5 days a week instead of six. Track events are run on a track, with the surface either all weather, or dirt. All weather is made of rubber, and track spikes grip them very easily, making all weather tracks better to run on than dirt. Track spikes are light shoes with metal spikes on the bottom, usually about 7 on each shoe. These help you sprint better and get a good start at the beginning of a race. This also my first year of track, but I plan to continue to participate in track for my junior and senior year also. Just like in cross country, there are invitationals and dual meets, but we also had a couple of tri-meets, which is with three different schools racing instead of two. We have only a JV track team this year, though we do have Varsity caliber runners. But next year we will have a Varsity team also. There are many different Track and Field events, and following is a chart of them all.

Click here to go to the Vista Murrieta track link.

Track Events