By: Gage Miskimen [Feature Editor]

With temperatures soaring this week and school having early dismissals due to the heat, sports have had to change schedules and work around the weather.

Haley Clifton, Senior, is a varsity cross country runner who has had to deal with all the changes this week. “We have to have practices in the morning and we have to drink even more water than usual to compensate for the heat.” Haley said. She is one of many athletes that have had to adapt to the changes in practices.

The heat and change of scheduling can also affect an athlete’s mentality. “We have a lack of energy because we’ve been running in the mornings and the heat drains our energy as well.” All athletic programs have been coping with the weather and the mental drain brought by the heat.

On top of all that, cross country had their time trials this week where they figure out who’s varsity and who’s not. For Haley, she thought her trials went smoothly. “I think they went well. I made varsity so that’s good. Time trials were a lot harder than I thought they were going to be.” Time trials are a very important part of the cross country season and the runners push their hardest to earn a top spot.

Even though they are constantly pushing harder everyday to earn top spots, Haley says the cross country team stays together and have a strong sense of team. “We get along very well. We are like a giant family.” Teamwork and coming together as one is a very important aspect in sports.

Even in the heat, the cross country team keeps working hard and focused as they have goals to have a successful season. All sports are trying hard to cope with the intense heat this week and are not letting it be a distraction to the season. It’s just another obstacle to overcome for the teams.