When it comes to cross country, the push to win both as a team and as an individual are in a constant balance. Lending itself to a style similar to how winter and spring track teams are set up, cross country is a fall sport that’s unique in its own right.

“It’s a little different than the other team sports but you still work as a team because that’s how you win the meets,” said Dartmouth High School head coach Hilaria Sousa. “But it also has that individual aspect to it.”

Cross country is a sport that relies heavily on the performance of individuals, as opposed to other sports. In order for a team to win a meet, the team’s top seven runners must have the lowest cumulative score.

With that system in place, Sousa and her assistant coach Jeff Reed’s jobs differ from that of a football, basketball or volleyball coach.

“A lot of [the coaching] is strategy before the race,” Sousa said. “We try to follow that [strategy] so they have to really go into it and be aware of what they need to do individually. If they’re number two, they need to stay in that number two spot. Sometimes they have to step up, sometimes somebody else needs to step up.”

“During the race a lot of things can shift and even sometimes somebody’s not feeling well. That’s when the other runners or even a JV runner can factor in. It gives the other kids the opportunity to step up so that’s where the team aspect [comes in].”

Like other sports, the team members need leadership not only from their coaches but from fellow teammates as well. That’s where senior captains Bryce Boswell and Rachel Gin come in.

“[Captains] have all those day-to-day responsibilities,” Sousa said. “But the other big part is motivating the kids to do their best in workouts, to do their best on the [races]. Also [they’re] providing a lot of positive [reinforcement] and encouragement.”

She added, “A lot of those leadership skills from the captains and getting everybody pulled together as a team helps everybody a lot.”

With strong encouragement from their leaders, the boys and girls teams are ready to compete at a high level.

The boys team, which is returning four top runners including Boswell, is looking to build off of a productive season from last year in which they went 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the Old Colony League while capturing a league title as well. The girls team also finished last year with a winning record of 5-4.

“The boys are really strong,” Sousa said. “We only lost two seniors from the top seven, and we still have four really strong runners that are back. [For the girls], I think we’re going to get some good performances. We also have some newcomers, too, so I think they’re going to contribute nicely.”