Update: The next women's cross country meet will be on October 13 at the Vanguard Invitational, not the Southern Utah Color Country Invitational. 

The women’s cross-country team is taking advantage of the month long break between meets to prepare for the Vanguard Inviataional on October 13. During each practice they keep one thing in the back of their minds: working together as a team.

“There’s no individuals on the team; we look alike when we go to meets, there’s no egos. It’s all about team focus, team attitude, building each other up, especially in practices — just sticking together,” junior Kasey Schalich said.

When head coach Jonathan Zimmerman was asked about how the unity of the team has positively influence the performances at the meets, he talked about it affecting everything that goes into the team.

"It (the concept of being a team) has affected every aspect of how we train, think and race. … everything has a different view due to the fact that we see things as a team,” Zimmerman said in an email.

The girls keep each other accountable, not only in practice, but also in the classroom and their spiritual lives. They have weekly Bible studies and are reading through the book of Ecclesiastes. There is a unity between the upperclassmen and the freshmen. They pray for each other and the upperclassmen help the nine freshmen adjust to college life. The girls continue to keep their attitude in check.

Men's teams chemistry only getting stronger

The men’s team is in a season where they only have one new runner, making their chemistry even stronger than last year.

“We’re all really comfortable and we have a close, tight-knit group. Shane [the new freshman] fit right in,” sophomore Andrew Daedler said. “We all contribute to the group with personalities that go together and each person fits in their own unique way. We have great team chemistry.”

The chemistry is beneficial to the team on and off the track with the men being able to motivate each other in a positive way.

“We are trying to cultivate a positive atmosphere amongst our teammates — trying to push each other to our physical and mental limits in workouts. This season has taken some weird turns, but we are regaining focus and moving forward,” Daedler said. “Right now we are just focusing on training and workouts and looking forward to GSAC [Golden State Athletic Conference]. Our potential recruits for next year are looking promising with guys who are really serious about their faith. We have some older guys stepping up and everyone is making huge improvements from last season.”