For most athletes, sports all revolve around winning. The  focus concentrates more on beating the team than treasuring the real aspect of team sports– teamwork and cooperation.  For senior cross-country runner Alyssa Tomlinson, this is not the case.

“The coaches weren’t just focused on the top runners or winning, they cared about the team as a whole,” Tomlinson said. She moved to Great Falls from Chicago and noticed a difference in the sport between the two cities.

“In Chicago, it was very based around the varsity team,” Tomlinson said. “That was all that mattered.Our coaches [in Chicago] only focused on number one, two, and three, and frankly, that caused too many problems.”

According to Tomlinson, the most valuable thing that she learned in cross country does not lie in being the best but rather in personal improvement.

“Learning that its okay to be not number one, or the fastest is really important. Everyone can push themselves and endure [running for long distances], that’s what cross-country is about. Not performing good for anyone but yourself.”

Sitting together around the the library during seventh period everyday, the cross country teams of CMR show what real camaraderie and teamwork means as they hang out and laugh as if they’ve been friends for years. As shown by their actions, the bond among the athletes goes beyond the running field even after their season is over. Tomlinson shared how their coach helped them in terms of support.

“They wanted to make sure that everyone was doing there best and at the end of the race, they made sure that we did the best we could and pushed our limits.This year, I ran better than any other year that I did cross country and I have no doubt that it is because of the support system and the coaches and how they trained us.I think that the thing I’m going to miss most is not being on the team for longer than just one year,” she said.

On the other hand, the boys’ team captain, Gordon Gentry, shared that being on top should be considered important as well, especially because it is seen as a return in investment of efforts and hard work done by the team.

“ [Being the best] is pretty important,” Gentry said.  “We probably put as much, if not more, in our trainings with the awesome coaches that we have.” Gentry shared the most important thing about being the captain.

“Having the respect and trust from my teammates enough to elect me as the captain,” Gentry said. The captain is set on the fact that he is going to continue running for the college that he chooses and is going to participate in track when it starts.