It is no secret that Cross Country is a very physically demanding sport that requires a lot of mental toughness, as well as physical strength. CB South is renowned for having a very talented roster when it comes to the sport.
Sophia Woodcock is a current senior at CB South who is on all three track teams (Cross Country, Winter Track, and Spring Track), and is the co-captain for all three. When asked what her favorite part of being a captain was, she responded with, “I really like that I feel encouraged to talk to everyone on the team and be someone that they can come and talk to.”
This is the first year that Sophia has been a captain, going into her third and final year as a senior. After freshman year, Sophia would quit the CB South Soccer team and pick up running full time. When asked why, she said “I really liked the small team environment, and closeness you get with the team.”
As of this year the Cross-Country team had 13 girls competing in races, according to Sophia. She said that Cross country gets a bad rep because people are against just running because it is a very physical and mentally tough sport.
This small team environment was felt through out their season as they all became very close with each other. This is prevalent in the fact that they would hold team bonding activities before meets which Sophia as well as the other captains Kenny Konopka and Riley Rooney plan.
These activities include pasta parties hosted the night before each meet which involves both the boys and girls teams. However, at the meet the girl’s team has been known to host a “Secret Psyche” which involves the anonymous distribution of snacks and encouraging notes.”
Also, as a senior and captain, she said she has “More of a helping hand with others” and being able to “teach underclassmen what to do and give advice.”
Sophia, who currently has no plans of running either track or cross country in college, said that as a senior she is more focused of the longevity of the team rather than herself, and making sure that the underclassmen are prepared for the coming years on the team.
Since her sophomore year, Sophia has done nothing but improve from season to season, as such you would expect her expectations to shift as well. However, this is not the case; she instead shifts herself based solely on injuries, and separates goals for track and cross country, but her expectations are to just have fun.
She has been injured countless times throughout her career, most recently injuring her back, which cost her a spot at the District Meet reserved for the top runners. However, she has always managed to keep going, she said “I never just quit a workout but sometimes when you’re sick you can’t keep going.”
Throughout her time at South she has made many friends for running and in general, most notably Angela Crowley. Sophia talked about her most notable memory as a runner, “My first invitational meet, it was in my sophomore year, and I ran a good time and I got to run of the varsity team, and I met my best-friend Angela.”
Sophia has persevered through both triumph and failure alongside the team, she said “If we have bad days, we have bad days, and if we have good days we celebrate.”
Simple gestures from parents showing up to meets and upperclassmen offering rides to those who can’t drive make her proud to be part of CB South Cross Country and Track teams as it is more of a family than anything else.
