The Miami Palmetto Senior High School cross country team sets the standard for hard work and perseverance.

Palmetto cross-country student athletes practice Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. During practice, they begin with a warm up followed by stretching. Afterwards, they complete a series of workouts that contain push ups, jumping squats, burpees and more. The workout varies from day to day. Then, they run around three to seven miles before practice is over, and sometimes they may also do sprints. In a single day of practice, these student athletes run anywhere from three to ten miles. It all just depends on the day.

“My favorite part about being on the team is how it feels like a second family and everyone is very nice,” Palmetto junior and cross country runner Camryn Givens said.

During their meets, the team is usually eager to run because of all the hard work they have put in. To run in a meet, they must attend almost all of the practices. Running is not only physically draining, but mentally draining, too. 

“At the end of the day, it’s really hard on the mind,” Palmetto senior and cross country runner Rey Martinez said. “Especially when you’re running such high mileage, it’s mentally draining; it may be physically draining, but it’s mostly mentally draining to finish.”

Their dedication goes beyond what they do on the field; they also have to dedicate themselves in the classroom. During their sports season, good time management skills is a must. This ensures that they finish all given assignments and can still go to practice and train for meets. Their goal is to finish with a great time on the field, while still getting good grades in the classroom. 

On Oct. 27, the cross country team qualified for Regionals after doing well at Districts. During Regionals, a freshman named Lucia Castillo Rios received 5th and is headed for States.

Even throughout all the hardships the cross country runners face, they love their sport with a great passion. They love what they are doing, and they show that through the amount of dedication they put towards the sport they play.