By Paige Bortner

The Hastings College men’s and women’s cross country teams are continuing to build throughout the fall season, with both teams showing progress despite having a young roster.

Senior Grace Dow said the team has been adjusting to the demands of longer mileage while getting younger runners comfortable with the college-level training.

“We have a really young team this year,” Dow said. “Building up to getting people used to running longer miles and longer mileage has been fun.”

While the Broncos are still developing, Dow said she has been impressed with how the team has performed so far. Both the men’s and women’s teams have seen strong individual performances early in the season.

Dow has also been pleased with her own season, saying she has been running well compared to previous years. She is also excited about the progress she has seen from the freshmen on the team.

“I’ve been running pretty well this season compared to other seasons,” Dow said. “The freshmen have been doing really well compared to previous years, so I think we have a really strong team this year.”

The Broncos have also had to deal with difficult weather conditions during their meets. Muddy courses have created an additional challenge for runners, but Dow said the team has continued to compete through it.

“Meets have been going well. Unfortunately, weather has not been good,” Dow said. “It’s been quite muddy at some meets, but, you know, nothing wrong with a little mud run.”

Despite the weather, Dow said the team is looking forward to its upcoming meet at Briar Cliff. She expects the course to provide a different challenge for the runners and give the Broncos another chance to see how they stack up.

“I think our next meet is at Briar Cliff, so it should be a nice, fun, fast course,” Dow said.

With more of the season still ahead, both the men’s and women’s teams will look to continue improving as the younger runners gain experience and the team builds toward the end of the season.

“I’m really excited to see what both men and women can do,” Dow said.

With the season continuing, the Broncos will look to keep improving and finish the fall on a strong note.