Bruin Cross Begins

By Coach Vermeire

27 Aug 2023

The Bruins kicked off their cross country season this past Friday at the Owasso Relays. These relays have been a tradition for some time now, and a good way for the athletes to get in the competitive spirit without having to race the normal full 5k. These relays pit teams of 4 athletes against each other, with each athlete having to race 1.5 miles. Although just under half the distance of their normal race, the runners know it will be ran at a higher pace. This race typically takes place in Mohawk Park, but do to tree damage in that area the race was moved to O’Brien Park. This provided even more of challenge to the runners since this course was uncharted territory. They now had to battle competitive runners, a new course, and surging temperatures.

The Lady Bruins were the first to take the course. They had 5 relay teams competing against 45 others. As the first set of runners took to the course and disappeared in the distance it was hard to tell where the Bruins stood. As the first set of runners crossed the finish line and handed off their baton, the Lady Bruins were in 12th place, and would remain there until the final leg of the relay. Gentry Turner, senior captain, took the baton and began to torch past her competition. Over her 1.5 mile lap she was able to pass a staggering 7 runners and helped her relay team (MaryAnn Alvey, Emily Lechuga, and Kate Manley) finish in 5th place. The remaining relay teams finished in 16th, 26th, 42nd, and 46th. Despite the heat and new course, several of the girls already showed improvements in their 1.5 mile times since their time trail the week before. Of the 21 runners, over half improved their time by an average of around 38 seconds, showing that this a competition ready squad prepared for the upcoming season.

The boys took to the course next. They had 5 relay teams as well and competed against a field of 51 other teams. Their relay teams did not fare quite as well finishing in the 11th, 28th, 37th, 46th and 55th positions. This boy’s team is very young however and shows great potential for being a powerhouse in the future. Coach Turowski stated he was very pleased with their efforts, and was pleasantly surprised with Luke Bulleigh’s opening leg.  He said they will be working hard this week prepping for a little bit longer of race this upcoming weekend in Sapulpa. Cross Country head coach, Coach Ayres had this to say about his teams,  “I saw a lot of perseverance, a lot of hard work that paid off, you can tell these boys and girls really pushed themselves, it’s hot, but they didn’t complain and they came out and they did a really good job.” The Bruin XC squads will compete again this Saturday in Sapulpa at the Westside Sport Complex starting at 9:25am.