“The races are probably the best part,” sophomore Patrick Hodges said.

Hodges said that he came across running during a swim team practice. Cross-country coach Doug Darko told him to try it, which he did his freshman year.

“I had been in swimming and was looking for something to do,” he said.

Hodges said that he runs to “stay in shape for swimming.”

He said that he has started cycling so that he could do a triathlon and he want to run three miles in less than 19 minutes by the end of the season.