Alva Review-Courier -

This year, Alva High School added a new sport to their long list of athletics. Cross country joined Alva's exceptional list of extracurricular activities. There are nine athletes on the team, including seniors Noah Place, Brandon Antonio, and Mattie Duncan, juniors Emmanuel Fragosa and Ray Ray Bell, sophomores Priscilla Samaniego and Johnathen Warrington, and freshman Jazmia Walker. They have competed at three competitions in the last three weeks, and have one more competition until playoffs.

The team has a seven-week season, and the athletes have been busy working hard and preparing for their meets. Because this is the first time Alva High School has had a cross country team, fans have been excited to see how the team will do. When asked about the team's progress throughout their season, AHS senior Mattie Duncan said, "I've been really impressed with how we've done so far. So many people on the team have placed, and we're definitely getting better."

Cross country is a new and exciting sport that brought something different to Alva's usual fall sports. They have had a great start this year and the athletes look forward to the sport's continuing growth in popularity at AHS. "You don't have to be a runner to run cross country," says Duncan. Anyone can join the team; the only requirement is that they work hard and always try their best.

The cross country team is coached by Kanon Collins. Coach Collins is new to Alva as a cross cuntry coach and accepted the position to coach the team earlier this year. The athletes are excited to have Coach Collins as their coach, saying that she is a great coach, and really pushes them to try their best. When asked what made her decide to accept the offer as coach, Coach Collins said, "I have always enjoyed the sport myself and believe that it will help you tremendously in any other sport you participate in. I was also asked by some of my athletes if I would do it, and when your athletes ask you to do something to help them better themselves, you do whatever it takes to make it happen." The addition of the cross country team has and will continue to be among this list of many amazing extracurricular activities Alva High School offers their students.