After the decrease in school size, the cross-country team has decided to move to MAC White. This results in the school’s ability to race teams closer in size to South and changing meet structure. Coach McNamara shares how this may affect the team and the competition they face.

“Even though we are in the MAC White division, we still get to race the Romeos, Dakotas, and Uticas in the Invitational meets,” McNamara said. “We still get to measure ourselves against Red teams but it all just comes down to racing against ourselves.”

The MAC White division welcomed Grosse Pointe South with open arms, recognizing the team’s talented runners and the potential for competition in the division. The decision to switch divisions has been met with enthusiasm from the team members themselves. Senior Brody Fitzgibbon ‘25 expresses his excitement for the change in hopes for South to grow to the top of the new group of athletes.

“In MAC Red we were outclassed by the other teams in the league so with this I think it will allow us to win MAC white instead of losing MAC Red,” Fitzgibbon said. “I feel this is going to give me the opportunity to compete for high placements at MAC championships.”

Runners are looking forward to witnessing how the change will impact the team’s performance and dynamic. Some believe that the move will provide the team with an opportunity to further develop their skills and prove themselves in a new competitive environment of runners. This allows these runners to display their talents and reach the goals they were hoping for. Captain Chloe Caulfield ‘25 states how this may affect the team’s ability during larger meets.

“Competition is definitely a fun thing to focus on and with switching to MAC White it has opened up some great opportunities of winning and placing well,” Caulfield ‘25 said. “As long as we are ready to be competitive when it comes to the regional I think we can do better than we have done in a while.”

Cross country has become not just a sport but an escape for the runners as well as coaches. Athletes during this switch have found great excitement along with the coaching staff.

“Cross country means a lot of things like dedication and commitment, and it means setting long-term goals and accomplishing those goals,” McNamara said. “Accomplishing those goals and reaching a personal level of achievements is not going to be a problem for the athletes here at South after the switch.”