Baldwin’s excellence in running

For numerous years, Baldwin has been known for their impressive cross country performances. Aside from the athletes personal skills, coach Mike Spielman has been credited with a lot of the team’s success. 

“Everyone is running to better their teammates and I run because I also respect Spielman a lot,” sophomore Riley Smith said.

The team is looking forward to their next meets, including sophomore Maddox Shorb.

“My favorite thing about cross country is just hanging out with everybody. It’s a good opportunity to meet other people and form relationships with them,” Shorb said. 

These naturally-skilled runners still put in the practice however. 

“Typically we go on a run that is like five to eight miles,” Smith said. “We also do workouts around the track and on the golf course.” 

The team has six regular meets and league, regionals and state. One of their goals is to make it and run at state. To do so, the team holds themselves to high expectations. 

“We always expect our teammates to push each other and give a hundred percent at practice so we can do well,” Smith said.

The team builds strong friendships through all the time they spend together. 

“I feel like the best part about cross country is that the team is really close,” sophomore Lucas Hafer said. “Even outside of just running, the traditions that we have and the bonds among the teammates can’t be matched.”

Whether you like to run or not, the cross team is a great way to stay in shape and build relationships with new people.