By Connor Gray, Senior Reporter
Cross country season is quickly approaching for Northwestern, with the first meet coming up Thursday at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.
Cross country teams have been hard at work to prepare for the new season. The team has a new coach, Derrick Young. The pandemic caused issues in finding assistants, but head coach Jill Lancaster and assistant Sterlin Broomfield brought him on in February.
Lancaster said she has positive expectations for how the season will go.
“I’m excited because coach Broomfield has worked very hard in bringing in a very experienced class,” Lancaster said.“They have seen bigger races, bigger meets and they bring that knowledge that’s hard to get.”
Broomfield mentioned how this brings leadership and helps those who have not competed in this type of environment, as their practices have been full of support by upperclassmen to push each other.
“The upperclassmen have done a great job bringing the freshman on,” Broomfield said. “They all get along with each other. Everyone enjoys coming to practice and working hard.”
Lancaster said the atmosphere around their runners has created enthusiasm for upcoming meets.
For the upcoming meet in Hutchinson, Kansas, some of the teams the Lady Rangers and Rangers will compete against will be Cloud Community College, Dodge City Community College, Hutchinson Community College, Bethany University, Bethel University and others that have yet to be officially added.
After the meet in Hutchinson, both Ranger teams compete at meets in Lawton; Joplin, Missouri; North Newton, Kansas; and Fayetteville, Arkansas, before ending the season with two meets in Shawnee.