"Cross country is the ultimate team sport. In many "team" sports you could easily cover for a weak player. In cross country your top five runners score. You can have four very good runners, but if your fifth runner is weak and finishes far behind, you will generally lose the meet. Running together in a pack with the strngest runners leading, and everyone working to keep the pack together is the surest way to score well and win. I always felt these team runs were the key to success in cross country."