Apponequet cross country team runs on community

LAKEVILLE — Whether they joined the team to focus on running or for conditioning for another sport, the cross country runners at Apponequet Regional High School build habits that help them in competitions and beyond.  

One of the team’s coaches, Daniel Rutledge, said this year’s team is made of mostly young athletes learning the basics of not only running, but of themselves. His goal is to give them skills they need to perform better at meets, in the classroom and in their lives. 

Improvement — not winning — is the team’s focus. 

“Having a young team definitely determines the type of training and the skills that you’re working on,” he said. “New runners need to focus on understanding how to take care of themselves, so we work on a lot of mental skills with the kids.” 

After running cross country throughout high school and college, Rutledge began coaching 13 years ago. He also works as a social studies teacher at the school, and said he took the coaching position to stay active as a runner and connect with students outside of school. 

Some members of the team are his students, which he said creates a stronger relationship than if he were just their coach. 

“That strengthens the team when you have that sort of connection,” Rutledge said. 

There are about 27 runners this season, but fewer than 10 are girls. This is mainly due to many of them graduating last year, and female students having more sports options in the fall — field hockey and volleyball are only offered for girls, for example.

Rutledge said that ratio is something he hopes to balance out in coming seasons.

Kailyn Rosa, one of the few girls on the team, said their small number has brought them together. 

“Despite most of us being in different friend groups, eventually everyone talks to one another,” she said. 

No matter their gender, the runners agreed the team’s strong sense of community and supportive environment have kept them around.

Gabrielle Richards, a sophomore, said she joined last year after a negative experience on a different team.

“It has a great community, and I felt like I needed something new,” Richards said. “My last sport didn’t go too well for me, I didn’t like the community there, but everyone here is really supportive and nice to everyone.”

Senior Jacob Sasville said he initially joined for conditioning, but the “family atmosphere” and friendships he found kept him on the team. 

Hannah Kuriscak, also a senior, joined to improve her speed and endurance for basketball, and said she enjoyed a less stressful final season getting to know fellow athletes. 

When she started cross country running it was only for conditioning. As she did it more regularly, she said she discovered an unexpected love for running. 

Rutledge said this love is what he tries to foster for the athletes he helps coach.

“My hope for the future is the kids will enjoy running, and see it as not only a sport but a lifestyle,” he said. “It would be great if we could make a life-long runner out of them, and if that is achieved I think we'll have a much stronger team next year.”