The Blue Valley cross country team has started off the year winning their first meet in Paola, Kansas. They have been training every day. “On hard days, we run six miles and on easy days, we run four miles” freshman Grace Anderson said. The team doesn’t only do training. They have many traditions including dinners, chants and Chinese fire drills. “Before every race we do a chant and sprint to the starting line,” Anderson said. “ We also have a team dinner before most of the races. If we win a meet we park our busses in the Wal-Mart parking lot and do a Chinese fire drill. They are all so fun and everyone enjoys having something to look forward to.” Everyone on the cross country team has goals to keep them working hard and getting better. “I want to improve every race and work hard to be my best,” Anderson said. Not everyone’s goal is to be the best on the team. Some people just want to get better. “[my goal for this season is] To run a 5k without walking,” freshman Rachel Summers said. Summers and Anderson said the cross country team is a family that supports and encourages you to get better. “[The cross country team is a family] because everyone is really supportive of each other and it’s really fun,” Summers said.