Families who run together, stay together

Cross country is a runner’s sport that is solely meant to stretch an individual’s limits.

 However, as needed in all sports, teamwork must be exercised in such a way that every player feels connected in achieving success.

This year, the cross country team at Kaiserslautern High School was connected via an unexpected occurrence – out of the 41 runners on the team, 18 are family members. Those runners are Stephen and Rachel Hook, junior and sophomore, respectively; Amber and Carlie Core, senior and freshman; Colleen and Sean Davis, junior and freshman; Janel and Will Firth, senior and sophomore; TJ and Maddisen Daly, sophomore and seventh-grader; Alexandria and Ashleigh Gagnon, senior and sophomore; Corrine and Ryan Parkinson, sophomore and freshman; Matt and Amelia Harvey, junior and seventh-grader; and Jaron and Arvin Hrushka, sophomore and eighth-grader. Of the nine pairs of siblings, two of them are varsity runners. The Hook siblings, Stephen, 17, and Rachel, 15, are two varsity runners preparing for European championships.

Both runners, recruited by coach Dennis DePriest during their physical education classes, said they originally weren’t interested in the sport.

“The more coach (DePriest) and my friends talked about it, the more interested we became,” Rachel said.

Rachel and Stephen were playing soccer together for as long as they could remember. Now they consider running together as a significant development in their sibling bond.

“Stephen has been my best friend since before I could remember,” Rachel said. “It’s a special bond that most siblings don’t have.”

Stephen and Rachel began training during the summer before cross country.
“In the summer, we have to wake each other up in the morning and urge each other through the workouts. We’re working towards a common goal: getting in competitive shape for the season,” Stephen said.

The pair has improved incredibly since the beginning of the summer as the two are now varsity runners. Rachel’s personal record is 23:05 and Stephen’s is 18:35 in a 5 kilometer run.

“Cross country is a sport that attracts similar personalities,” Coach DePriest said. “Some want to get in shape for other sports, while others really want to run.”
Stephen said he is the type who likes to run but isn’t excited about it, while Rachel is the type who always does her best.

The cross country team, with its two varsity pairs, are ecstatic about running in the Europeans and in years to come at Kaiserslautern High School.