With the end of the 2015-2016 season looming, Tracy High’s cross country team, after placing third at league, prepares for sub-sectionals, one of the last meets as a team this year. This last meet is intriguing, yet bittersweet for these athletes for a variety of reasons.

“I’m looking forward to sub-sections because this will be the last meet that everyone will be competing in,” Jacob Spencer, varsity captain, said. “It will also be the last time I race with all of my varsity squad which is exciting but also sad because we have gotten very close over our years together.”

Despite the nearing of the end of the season, these athletes are still training hard for their last meet in order to advance in their journey in cross country.

“I’m looking forward to sub-sectionals to qualify for sections, but I’m also worried because there are a lot of other talented runners, so I’ve been completely immersed during practices,” Isabelle Frazier, varsity runner, said. “I’ve definitely found myself more focused and meticulous during these past few practices in preparation for this meet.”

These past intensive workouts will only increase these athletes’ chances of qualifying at this meet due to its challenging course.

“Sub-sectionals are historically run at the Frogtown course, although it is a very challenging course, it’s at the end of the season when our athletes are the strongest, so it’s the final chance for them to go out and run hard in order to qualify for sections,” Coach Melissa McCullough said. “It’s kind of like our version of play offs so there’s a lot of excitement and anticipation.”

Yet despite how these Bulldogs perform at this meet, they have a lot to be proud of from this past season.

“It’s been a great season. There’s been a lot of improvement. A lot of the guys who have not really been that fast in the past, have improved a ton and have made their way into the top five scoring positions,” Spencer said. “Although we’ve seen a lot of injuries, we worked all of those out and progressed as a team despite them.So, overall, it has been a great season.”

Although the entire team has performed well over this past season, the freshman/sophomore girls have exceeded their expectations drastically.

“Frosh/Soph girls have done extraordinarily well this past season. They placed first in league, so we have definitely seen them progress and develop drastically as runners over this season,” Emily Simons, varsity runner, said.

Each member of the team has seen not only a drastic change in the team but also in themselves from the beginning of the season.

“It’s also been really cool to see the shift in the new runner’s mentality from struggling to keep up in the shortest runs in the beginning of the season to now dominating in all their events,” McCullough said.

Not only have these individuals developed as athletes, but also their bonds with one another as members of a common passion.

This bond has greatly developed over the time spent not only at the meets, but also on the ride there.

“The bus rides are my favorite part because we get along very well as a team, so it is nice to get to check in with each other every once in a while to see how we are doing, and it is just another opportunity to hang out,” Simons said.

Although many of the current athletes will be graduating this spring, they will maintain their consistent support for this passion of theirs.

“Since I’m graduating this year, I’m definitely going to miss the underclassmen. So I will also be coming back next year to watch and support their races,” Simons said.

Sub-sectionals is on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 9 a.m. at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds.