Over the past four years, the Mounds View girls cross country program has improved vastly. From changing their training regimen and a new coaching style to building a closer community, this year’s team has broken their team average record and become the fastest team in Mounds View history. The girls decreased their running times and improved their performance with many athletes setting new personal and seasonal records this season.

During the 2020 season, the team got divided into two groups due to COVID regulations. The faster and more experienced runners trained with head coach Jimmy McArthur, while the rest of the girls trained with assistant coach Ingrid Narum and former coach Diane Hessini. After this irregular and isolating season, the girls pushed to train together as one community rather than in groups. “Our captains the year after that [in 2021], I think just because we had to separate, they really wanted to come together as a team,” said Narum.

Many girls on the team believe that it is their tight-knit community that allows them to continue getting faster each year, as the community values teamwork and consistency and encourages the girls to hold each other accountable. “I feel close to them, kind of like a family almost. I think one reason that we do really well [is] we’re able to hold people accountable, but then bond together and push each other,” said senior captain Maya Francisco. 

Furthermore, off-season training allowed them to not only continue to develop their bonds, but also build consistency that contributed to their faster improvement. “These girls put in the miles year round. Pretty much every day they’re summer running. Some girls do nordic in the winter. Some girls just winter run, and pretty much everyone does track,” said Narum.

This year the athletes also implemented more cross training into their routines. Rather than running six days a week, many girls took a couple days to do different forms of cardio such as biking, going on the elliptical trainer and using the LEVER, a strap-in device to a treadmill that lifts a portion of the athlete’s body weight off. This allowed the runners to protect themselves from injuries instead of stressing their joints from daily running and, as a result, train and race more consistently. “As someone who was injured in the past, it’s something that I do to make sure that I’m able to race,” said senior captain Malaina Brodin, who cross trains twice a week. 

All this led to an impressive season for the team. At their conference race this season, the varsity girls finished with their fastest team average in program history with a time of 18:46 for a 5K. Sophomore Linnea Ousdigian also broke the school record with a time of 17:21.3 at that meet. 

This year, the team also competed at the Roy Griak Invitational on Sep. 20 and Nike Cross Regional Heartland Championships (NXR) on Nov. 10. They have consistently competed at Griak, the largest cross country meet in the Midwest, for several years, but it is only in 2022 that the team began to qualify for the championship race based on their performance in the previous season according to Narum.  

In addition, their faster times and first place finishes at sections allowed the whole team to qualify for state rather than just the top runners. “The dynamic it’s so different where the entire team can go to state and race together,” said Francisco. They placed sixth at state and won their section title for the seventh year in a row. 

Overall the Mounds View girls cross country team had a solid season this year. They placed well in every race and won the title of the fastest girls cross country team in Mounds View history at a conference race right before the end of the season. “It’s just a result of their work ethic and their dedication to the sport and the team,” said Narum.