The alarm clock goes off at 5:45 a.m. and the students start jumping out of bed. These aren’t just any students it is the members of the 2013 cross country team.

While most of the 2,000 plus students enjoy their hours of sleep, these young men and women are on their journey covering several miles a day.

“While everyone is sleeping in on Saturdays and Sundays these guys are up and running at 7 a.m. sometimes even 6 a.m.,” head cross country coach Patrick Matous said.  “These guys work very hard all the time. They run for fun because they love what they do.”

Matous has high expectations for both the boys and girls this year.

“I expect us to run hard and compete to the best of our abilities,” Matous said. “We have several returning runners so I have big expectations. So far we have looked pretty good as our motto is “Make Excellence Happen.”

The boys return seniors Brandon McManus and Brand Richter who along with junior Zach Alspach and freshman Alex Goff to form a solid team.

“I want to start winning the meets and continuously get in the top 10,” Goff, who won the district meet in both seventh and eighth grades said. “The competitiveness is what makes it fun. You want to run as fast as you can and get them. It also helps me in my other sports because I don’t get tired in the fourth quarter of the football game.”

The girls aren’t quite as experienced, but do have two solid runners to build around in seniors Shelby Howell and Jordan Munoz.

“I want to finish in the top three at district and get back to regionals,” Munoz said. “Last year I finished sixth at district, but want to work hard to improve on that.”