Timberlane Regional High School- The Timberlane High School cross country team is growing in size and talent this year. There are 18 boys and 11 girls on the team, which is a huge improvement from last year, where there were only nine boys and seven girls. The team has a lot of new runners, there are some new freshmen that have joined the team and a big group of sophomores that joined the team this year. In previous years, the team hasn’t been able to enter 7 varsity runners in the state meets because there haven’t been enough varsity runners. This year however, there is a lot of promise for a good team to enter states with. The qualification for being a varsity runner is being one of the top seven boys or girls on the team. With the Owls first meet coming up on September 14th at Salem, there will be a lot of competition for the top seven slots on both the girls and boys side of the team. 

After interviewing coaches Mr. Deveney and Mr. Behan, they said “the team’s looking very good this year. There’s a lot of younger talent and everyone’s working hard. I’m excited to see how the season goes.” There are a lot of new freshman and sophomore boys on this year’s team, so there will be a lot of room for growth in the team as these athletes get older and more experienced. 

Last year’s cross country season was limited due to the pandemic. The team was unable to go to invitational meets, and most regular meets were limited to two teams. This year, the schedule is back to normal, and the team has seven meets, three of them being invitationals. Unfortunately, Timberlane is unable to host home meets because of their lack of a course. The trail through the woods on the back of the school property has been deemed too dangerous after injuries during previous races. In addition, the course was too short, only being around 2.6mi. The distance is supposed to be a 5K, or 3.12 miles. Regardless of the lack of home meets the team is looking forward to having a normal season and is ready to compete.