Jordan Levy, Alex James

Miami Palmetto Senior High’s Varsity Cross Country team is always moving towards the finish line — and fast; with their Boys Varsity team placing 10 out of 28 teams at their Oct. 13 Greater Miami Athletic Conference. Top male cross country runner Dhiren Singh has been running for about three years now, building quite a reputation for himself.

“Our top male runner, now it’s Dhiren Singh, and his best time is with a 5k, which is 3.1 miles, [and it] is roughly a little bit over 18 minutes,” Head Coach of Boys Varsity Cross Country Michael Reynolds said. 

With their eyes always on the finish line, MPSH’s cross country runners are looking towards the future at all times, and for them, that means the State Final.

“[My goal for the team this year is to place] first for districts and come back, move on to regionals and participate in our state final,” Reynolds said. 

The MPSH cross country team was created around the 1970s and consists of eight boys and five girls. 

“So the girls team is really small this year, since I’ve been at Palmetto. So there’s only really a rare occasion where we have enough for a full team,” junior and Girls Varsity Cross Country runner Michaela Thompson said. 

The team practices every day after school and competes on Fridays and the weekends. Not only do runners have to incorporate practice into their already busy schedules, but they must find a healthy balance between school, extracurriculars, sports and social lives.

“A lot of people say try to stay on top of your schoolwork as much as you can. And, don’t let running or whatever sport you’re doing influence your schoolwork too much, I understand the commitment. At the same time, you have to understand that there is a commitment to being a student athlete. So, if you can’t balance both, then you need to take a step back and figure out how to do it because your team needs you as much as your teachers do,” Thompson said. 

As the team maintains a steady training program, they collaborate and focus on their strengths and weaknesses to lead themselves into a medal-winning future.

“Hopefully [we can] get our team somewhere good, work on the guys because we’re a young team,” Singh said.

High school students participate in sports for various reasons, but some athletes use it to their advantage, creating a balance in their lives.

“It provides a sense of discipline, motivation, encouragement; the will, the want to succeed, and that’s in everything it translates through in any aspect of their lives, sports on a whole,” Reynolds said.