How does a cross country runner end up in the middle of a highway during a race?  This was a question coach Eric Rosenthal was asking himself after a pretty crazy race where some athletes got lost during the run.

While it may seem like the intro to a funny joke, the cross country meets aren’t all just fun and highways. The cross country team is one of the most accomplished athletic programs at Hillsborough High School. The team prides itself on hard work and endurance, and their progress is shown at each of the races where the team is more than likely to bring a few medals home.

With seniors Owen Szabo and Justin Tubby leading the team’s top 7, the team is among the best in the county. Despite losing key runners Mitchell Baron and Jeremy Shipley from last year’s squad, the returning runners were quick to pick up where they left off. 

“The difficulty is having a group of the best runners, not just one or two,” Rosenthal said. “Oftentimes, we single out the best runners, the top one or two, and then we train the other runners to be able to catch up and run with them, so we have a great group”

The strength of the team relies on the endurance and the depth of the team overall.

“We have a good group of 2 guys and below them, we have a group of 10 guys who are all at the same level,” Rosenthal said.

Rosenthal looks forward to seeing which runners will work hard to succeed and land themselves a spot in the best group, and to seeing the steady improvements of the runners.

The boys cross country team spends their practices strictly running, with some conditioning and weight training involved. Rosenthal estimates that in an average week, the team runs 55 miles. In the off season, most runners do winter and spring track distance, so they stay in shape for cross country season. Optional running practices start after the fourth of July weekend, so the runners have a two-week break between the end of spring track and the beginning of summer workouts to cool down and relax.

The cross country team works hard to make sure they give every meet their all, and to make sure all their hard work pays off.