by Michelle Liu, managing editor

The Roar talked to freshman Jackson McGuffey over his second year running cross country and how living abroad has shaped his experiences.

How long have you been running cross country?

Since last year, in eighth grade.

How would you say you’ve improved since eighth grade?

A lot, probably I shaved 10 minutes off my time. I run three miles or two miles.

How did you get into the sport?

In eighth grade, they told us that high school cross country would help us improve even more than eighth grade would, and so I was interested. My mom wanted me to do something, and so this is just what I chose. It’s pretty simple, and I like to run.

How would you say team dynamics have been?

It’s been really fun! I kind of expected it to be really good, and it has been.

What sort of inspiration do you get from your teammates and your coach?

They really help. They tell me what I’m doing wrong or what I’m doing right and just help me improve a lot. Like, in the beginning of the year, I had an incorrect form, and they pointed it out so I could fix it.

Goals for next year?

I want to get on varsity as soon as possible, of course, so shaving another two minutes off [my time] would be excellent.

Who would you say you have the most chemistry with on the team?

Matthew Arthur–he’s another freshman. He’s better than me, but he really helps me improve.

Would you say it’s been hard juggling schoolwork and cross country?

Yes–because in cross country you have to get up early, so that makes it really hard to stay up at night and do homework. And I’m in a lot of hard classes, so juggling that is pretty difficult. I’m doing pretty good so far. I just make schoolwork a priority.

Tell me about something that’s not sports-related.

I’ve lived overseas for most of my life in two other different countries–seven years in China and five in Greece. My parents were missionaries there.

How did you go to school there?

I just went to public school and learned the language. I cannot speak Chinese, but I can speak Greek. I just moved back two years ago.

Can you contrast how school was there versus here?

It was very disorganized in Greece. It was pretty much free time all day long, and almost no homework.

So what about sports in Greece or China?

There were none. There were no school-related sports at all.

Do you prefer the structure here?

Yes.

Do your two younger brothers look up at you in any sort of way?

Yeah…they usually do most of the things that I do as they come up through the grades.

Are they running too now?

Yeah, one of them is.