Randolph cross country team racing into a new season
RANDOLPH — Five returning runners will try to make all the difference for the Randolph Cardinal cross country team when the team begins its campaign 4:30 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Hartington-Newcastle Invitational.
Head coach Tom Shafer enters his ninth season in charge of the program and will have five varsity boys in tow including senior Gabe Wortman, sophomores Justin Guenther, Brayden Shearer and Jake Harder and freshman Dylan Schutt. Wortman and Guenther return with the most experience for the Cardinals.
“All five boys should be very competitive and score well this year,” Shafer said. “Freshman girl Alexis Pofahl shows good potential.”
The sport is primarily used for athletes to get in good shape for other sports, so the coach takes a pragmatic approach to cross country with the Cards. “They all are out to get in shape
“They all are out to get in shape for basketball or wrestling so placing is OK, but they aren’t out to go to State even though I work them hard as though they could make it,” Shafer said.
Wortman said that despite the low numbers, the Cardinals run “as hard as they can,” to make the most of the situation as they go up against teams with more runners.
“We try to do the best in meets and in practice just hoping to get better,” Wortman said. “To be completely honest, I am not sure how we get through it, but we do. It’s a lot to do with communication and being good friends with everybody. That’s how we try to get through it by having fun while doing it.”
Cross country is a mix between hard work and a chance for the kids to have a little fun, Shafer said.
“It’s a combination of things. Sometimes we just do it to have fun and others when it comes down close to districts, we try to hone it and try to do our very best and get that No. 1 spot,” he said.
Wortman said the team is competitive with each other, but they keep things in perspective.
They also run with a chip on their shoulder knowing that the Cardinals tend to be the smallest team on the course.
“We just make a lot of jokes about it,” Wortman said. “As a team, I think we can do pretty good even with the small team as we are. I do wish we could have a bigger team, but we do pretty well and make the best out of it.”
Randolph Cross Country Schedule
Aug. 26 at Hartington Newcastle
Sept. 2 at Niobrara Verdigre
Sept. 9 at Laurel CC
Sept. 13 at Neligh Oakdale
Sept. 16 at Pender
Sept. 23 at Crofton
Sept. 30 at Battle Creek
Oct. 8 at Wausa Bloomfield
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