Last year’s season for the cross country team was centered around rebuilding their program after they were split in half, with a large portion of their athletes going to Gretna East High School. Some things that didn’t change, however, were the traditions that coaches and athletes continued.
This year came with changes, too, since it marks the first year since 2018 that the team competed in Class B in addition to the Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC). The group took this in stride, however, with both the boys and girls teams’ qualifying for state. Head Coach Bryce Brunswig, along with Co-Head Coach Jessa Waterman, led the girls varsity squad to first place at districts, as well as a runner-up finish for the boys.
“As coaches, we want to help them grow and meet those goals throughout the season,” Brunswig said. “And, in addition to those individual goals, we want our teams to perform well, especially in our last meets, conference meet, district meet and the state meet.”
The success of this year’s cross-country program was made possible in part by its firm and extensive foundation of long-lasting tradition. One tradition, started by GHS’s previous cross-country coach Joe Marek, and kept alive by Coach Brunswig, involves a left-handed handshake.
“I noticed (during) my year of coaching with him that he would always give kids a handshake before the race,” Coach Brunswig said. “And the kids called it like the Marek handshake. It was a left handed handshake, and you spread your ring finger and your pinky, and so you kind of hook those fingers together. And it was just kind of a good luck handshake.”
Additionally, once both the girls and boys teams finish their warm-ups, each group recites their own cheers during their pre-meet huddles.
“The girls’ (cheer) has been kind of a sing song chant where they’ll say, ‘G’,’ G’, ‘G’, ‘R’ ‘E’, ‘T’, ‘T’, ‘T’, ‘N’, ‘A’, ‘G’, ‘R’, ‘E’, ‘T’, ‘N’, ‘A’, Gretna, Gretna, all the way,” Brunswig said. “The boys, it’s just kind of changed. They more shifted it throughout the years, but the ones they’ve done recently, were, ‘Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Let’s Go Racing Boys, Dragons on 3, 1, 2, 3, Dragons.’”
The cross country coaches also enjoy recognizing two athletes a week during practice by naming them, “runners of the week.” When chosen, a student from both the girls’ and boys’ teams are given a t-shirt to sign and date, allowing them to see the runners that have come before them dating back to 2016.
“Every week we like to highlight someone on our team who has done something awesome,” assistant coach Ian Meador said. “Whether it’s through racing, like PRs, or really strong workouts or strong efforts in races, or also being a good teammate; cheering on teammates, whether in practice or in meets.”
Other traditions that the girls’ team utilizes in their pre-meet huddles include “buckling” each other in to get them into the right mindset before a race.
“The senior leaders, or whoever’s the highest seniority, buckles everyone in,” sophomore Lucy Zaboudil said. Zabloudil is the top runner on the girls’ team. “Everyone puts their hands up and they just, like, pretend like you’re buckling them into a seatbelt.”
The team is made up of several upperclassmen that have found great success this season and allowed these traditions to be continued. One of those leaders is a top runner for the boys’ team, Gavin Luthi, who has been an integral part of the team.
“Our team is still trying to like rebuild. We had a big team right before the split between the schools,” Luthi said. “I feel like this year we finally found our footing again, of who we are as a team, and just kind of re-establishing self of who we are as a team, and, like, how competitive we can be.”
