By Easton Fiala
The 2021 Cross Country season was full of firsts. One of the most unique firsts was that both the 2025 senior runners (Waylan Haworth, Braden Soester, Evan Pierce, and Easton Fiala) and the cross country team had a new head coach: Coach Davis.
Being with the same people for four years helps you get to know them. This can come as an advantage to both the coach and the runners.
Senior Evan Pierce said, “It was her first time ever coaching and it was our first time, obviously, ever being in high school. So we just kind of learned together and you can get really close with your coach.”
During this four-year process, the group of seniors and Coach Davis had a lot of fond memories.
One of those memories was between Senior Evan Pierce and Coach Davis.
Coach Davis explained, “It was the first tough hill workout, and in my head I was like, okay 10 hills should be easy. I’m pushing these runners the whole time and they are going to do great… And so Evan really taught me kind of a lesson of, I got to take it a little easy sometimes because we were like, two hills in and I see Evan throwing up.”
Evan said, “That was kind of like our first good memory of us laughing.”
These memories enhanced the relationship between Coach Davis and seniors, resulting in a comfortable atmosphere where athletes could be around a coach they could trust.
While the growth between the seniors and Coach Davis is the main theme of their four years, Coach Davis said she has learned special lessons from each of the four seniors to achieve that growth, “With Evan, I have become more relaxed in the sense like, I don’t need to push as hard as possible all the time, because I know Evan is going to show up and he’s going to do what he needs to do… from Waylan, he is very calm and logical with situations… I can always ask Waylan and he’s gonna give a very logical and straightforward answer… With Braden, he’s taught me that you never know what's going to happen…last year, mid-season, something just clicked, and he ran really well… you always have to have them prepared. With [Easton], I’ve learned that you should give an athlete space to just let their personality out and to let them shine… I just feel like I could always trust [Easton] to make sure people felt involved and part of the team.”
The specific traits possessed by each of the seniors served as ways for Coach Davis to improve her coaching technique. This not only helps Coach Davis grow as a coach but it also helps out the future athletes on the cross country team when the seniors are gone.
Senior Waylan Haworth said, “ I think we’ve brought back a little bit of the culture in the team, and hopefully everyone else thinks that as well.”
Now that the season is over, the seniors can only reflect on the memories they made. They all plan to continue running after high school, though not on a college team. Coach Davis said, “It’s very bittersweet… I keep telling [them] that I don’t know how I’m going to coach without you next year because I’m so used to those four boys being there all the time… But also I feel so proud of all that they’ve accomplished… I see the leadership and the work ethic in cross country, and I know that’s going to transfer into adulthood.”
Bittersweet is the perfect way to describe the end of the cross-country season for this special group. Although the run is hard, it makes the ending that much more fulfilling.