Junior Josh Wawrzyniak is joining the boys’ cross country team for the first time this season. Wawrzyniak played football and run track in his past years, but has never felt the desire to run cross country until this past summer. Despite the fact that Wawrzyniak has never run cross country before, he is already holding the number two spot on the team.
“I have always run track, and have played football in the past as well, but I wanted to try cross country because I wanted a new experience and a new challenge,” said Wawrzyniak.
Wawrzyniak started training for the season over the summer by doing workouts with the team and having senior Tieran McClure, the top runner on the team, help train him.
“I have been training with Tieran since early summer, and he has really been my motivation for this season,” said Wawrzyniak. “Every time we train together he motivates me to get better while I’m trying to run as fast as him.”
The ‘Cats had an away meet on Aug. 29, and Wawrzyniak placed second out of 68 other varsity runners from Waynesboro, Harrisonburg, and other local schools in the district.
“I placed second in our most recent away meet, which was really incredible considering it was such a hot day and a hard course,” said Wawrzyniak.
Coach Julie Tison is also inspiring Wawrzyniak to push himself. Tison has been coaching for several years and is planning on continuing throughout the next seasons.
“Coach Tison is really the best. She constantly pushes me to try harder, and I give her a lot of the credit of my quick success. Coach is always motivating the team with a combination of kindness and firmness,” said Wawrzyniak.
Wawrzyniak has a lot of goals for himself for his future, including continuing running in college,” said Wawrzyniak.
“When I think about my future I would hope to be going D1 for either track or cross country,” said Wawrzyniak. “I think running in college would be a great experience and help me continue doing what I love.”