The new low-fat, dry, cracked cookie being sold in the cafeteria that cries for the sweet relief of milk can only be compared to the first Center Meet course in Crystal Springs, the latest conquest by the cross-country team. Albeit, the plentiful hills that appeared on the course do not grace the cookie as great mounds of chocolaty goodness, the cross-country team polished off the meet like a ravenous student wolfing down a cookie during Mod 8.

In 26 seconds, a 15 year-old boy could probably scarf down about three of the cookies, however, in those twenty-six seconds, sophomore Tamara Purpura distanced herself from eighty-three other runners, nabbing 6th place in her race.

The new low-fat, dry, cracked cookie being sold in the cafeteria that cries for the sweet relief of milk can only be compared to the first Center Meet course in Crystal Springs, the latest conquest by the cross-country team. Albeit, the plentiful hills that appeared on the course do not grace the cookie as great mounds of chocolaty goodness, the cross-country team polished off the meet like a ravenous student wolfing down a cookie during Mod 8.

In 26 seconds, a 15 year-old boy could probably scarf down about three of the cookies, however, in those twenty-six seconds, sophomore Tamara Purpura distanced herself from eighty-three other runners, nabbing 6th place in her race. Though the team performed well, illnesses and injuries made frequent appearances. “It’s that time of the season,” head coach Michael Prutz said. “People aren’t taking care of their bodies. They’re going to bed later, not eating nutritiously, etc.”

With five weeks left in the season, it is becoming crucial for the team to stay in top shape.

But staying in shape might not be enough to save the girl’s varsity team. With three out of the top four varsity runners injured, the team is falling apart. “My knee is injured and I might not be able to run for the rest of the season,” said, junior Elena Chin, one of the top runners on the varsity team. “I made some pretty bad decisions during the off season and started training really hard when the season began. Looking back, there were a lot of little things I could have done to prevent the injuries: I could have stretched more, more rest.”

Many other runners are in the same boat as Chin. Purpura, though taking sixth in her division at Crystal Springs, currently suffers from Osgood-Schlatter, known as a type of growing pain. Weak tendons pulling away from the shinbone cause the disease. “I’m still running, but I’m not pushing myself too hard,” Purpura said. “I’m not running as fast as I want to.” Junior varsity runner Karyn Smoot recently broke her collarbone and is incapable of running in all-city.

“I was riding my bike and someone opened their car door and I went flying,” Smoot said. “I had an elective surgery. I could have done without it but I would have an inch lump of bone in the wrong place and it’d be crooked. Either way, I’d be out for six weeks.”

Regardless, the team is putting everything they have into the next few weeks. “I believe the runners are now more focused and motivated on their individual training,” Prutz said. The next meet will be on Oct. 24 at Golden Gate Park.