Junior Nathan Jones took seventh in the Nike Heartland Regional cross country meet in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The meet took place on Nov. 13 at Yankton Trail Park. Jones ran against 916 runners in the boy’s race. 

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica a meet consists of a five kilometers (3.1 miles) around an all terrain path.

“I just felt like my whole season paid off,” Jones said. “I’ve been working really hard to get there … It just kind of felt good to have like feedback on what I did over the season.”

Jones said the best part about running on the team is how close they are. The team often spends time together, watching movies. They even going hiking in Colorado over the summer.

“They [the team] were going crazy,” Jones said. “They were all really happy and proud of me and what I did.” 

Jones said he enjoys the running because it keeps him in shape. But the hardest part for him is staying consistent with the workouts and showing up to practice every day.

“There’s a lot of pain in it [running cross country],”Jones said. “But once you get passed all the pain and you just push yourself to endurance, it just feels really good after you finish.”