When a basketball player nets the game-winning shot with a second to spare, the fans go crazy. When a football team beats their rivals under home lights, the spirit of an entire school is lifted. But when a Cross Country team stares down 102 rivals and still brings home nothing but gold, something truly spectacular is in the running.

This is the story of the RHS varsity boys cross country team, and their as of yet undefeated season.

In order to truly appreciate the magnitude of this feat, however, one must look further back, to the warm hazy evening of a summer day several months removed.

This was where it all began. Most members of the RHS cross country team began training for their official season in the fall as early as late spring, but practices really kicked into gear during the summer months, where building a strong fitness base would become critical to the team’s success later in the actual season.

Practices would consist of pounding the nearby dirt trails of Johnson Springview Park in grueling speed workouts, running taxing 12 mile long runs around Folsom lake on the weekends, and whatever else the coaches might concoct for their team’s training regimens.

“Probably the hardest workouts I did when I was training were the 5 am workouts with Charlie,” said junior runner Bennett Woodward, referring to one of the many fabled “old dudes” who show up occasionally to run workouts with the team and share their wisdom.

However, this year in particular, there is one unique detail that many of the boys believe to be key to their success. This detail has to do with the depth and closeness of the team both on and off the course, as they continue to push each other to get better and better.

“We do everything together, I mean I’ve almost kinda switched friend groups,” said senior runner Justin Ferarro.

The reason this camaraderie is so important to the team’s success this year though is that their closeness doesn’t just show in friendship, but in race times as well.

At their last meet in Clovis, the team won not by having one stand out runner dominate the course, but by funneling along in a tight pack to rack up a team score which as it turned out, no one else in the field could compete with.

While most other teams’ spread, or time difference between their first and fifth runners often ran a separation time of about a minute and a half, the Rocklin boys held only 16.8 seconds between their number one and five runners. Since the team’s overall score depends on a combination of points awarded by place, Rocklin was able to score an exceptionally low (remember, that’s good!) average, and dominate the competition.

However, even after tucking five meets away, each with a win, the boys still remain incredibly humble, acknowledging that the season is far from over, and if anything, has only just begun.

“A lot of these teams, they’re not maybe running as hard right now and they’re leaving it for the post season… we can’t burn out or give up any focus, we have to keep on it a hundred percent,” said senior runner Andrew Craft.

And indeed, the team has some hard meets ahead of them. Their next competition will be held in Los Angeles at the prestigious Mt. Sac Invitational, where they will have the chance to test their legs against some of the greatest teams in the state, like Great Oak.

Soon after this, the team as a whole will prepare to launch themselves into preparation for league finals at Johnson Springview park, and a series of prelims that could have the potential to take them to state, or even far as the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland Oregon.

But before they do that, they will need to stay focused, count on each other, and remain humble as ever, because as junior runner Brendan Dowling sees it, there is a lot that goes into one’s mindset as they they prepare for greatness in running.

“The last thing that we need is to get cocky. Pride always comes before a fall… They’re gonna be back and they’re gonna be out to beat us, I mean, nothing’s over until it’s over.”

Fortunately, these boys have their eyes set on a season that is far from its end, and if the closeness in friendship and time placement continue to serve them as well as they have so far, this team looks to be headed towards a most spectacular finish, one pit-patting step at a time.