ABOVE: The Fairmont Junior Cardinal XC team runs in Jackson on Thursday, Sept 18, before the Jackson County Central Tri For Health Meet. Photo courtesy of Tiffany Harris

FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Elementary Junior Cardinals XC team entered its third year of existence this past fall, emulating similar experiences that athletes would encounter at the high school level for kids from fourth to sixth grade.

Not only is it a chance for kids to prepare for a potential future in this sport, but it also provides an activity to do two times a week for a handful of months during the year.

Making an opportunity

The creation of this organization stemmed from Neil and Crystal Hanson, a pair of Fairmont residents who have developed a love for running during their lives. After being involved in the sport through themselves and their children, the two wanted to extend their passion to other members in the community, specifically in the youth age group.

“We just wanted to give kids an opportunity to try the sport,” Crystal Hanson said. “If you think of all the other fall sports out there at the high school level, cross country is the only one that kids didn’t have a chance to try until they got to the high school level. So we just wanted to create an opportunity for that.”

Following some inspiration from friends living in the Twin Cities who had done something similar, the two used the available resources to create their own running organization specifically for grades four through six.

Practices consist of two weekly time slots, typically on Monday and Thursday, where kids will meet for an hour doing various activities. These sessions consist of a team meeting, warm-ups, a workout, and a game to end things on a positive note.

While the main objective is to provide the kids with a similar structure and exercise they will see at the junior and high school level, mixing in a fun activity to cap things off every workout is essential in keeping members upbeat.

Whether it’s creating steeplechase races out of the variety of puddles on the trail or giving out wristbands for the number of laps individuals run, Neil and Crystal have made it essential that these kids retain a positive experience throughout.

“What’s great about it is that they can be at their own ability level,” Crystal Hanson said. “There are some kids who will run their heart out for 20 minutes. There will be some who run a couple of loops and take a break, and then they will go again … We’re trying to keep it very positive while also recognizing the other great parts of cross country, of pushing yourself.”

Gaining traction

The club has only risen in popularity throughout the community during its early stages of existence. Nearly doubling from 18 to 32 participants since its start in 2023, each grade group is proud to have roughly 10 participants.

Not only have the Junior Cardinals grown in size, but participants can now compete more and more outside of practice.

This is the first season athletes have been able to run in an event not named the I-90 Invite, the Fairmont-hosted competition that takes place at Cedar Creek Park every year.

On Friday, Sept 12, Neil and Crystal organized an inner-squad competition before the Fairmont vs Waseca football game at Mahoney Field. The “Pregame Showdown,” as they called it, consisted of four different teams going against each other in a mile-long race. Awards were handed out the following Monday for the best runners by grade, gender, and overall athlete.

The team was also able to travel on the road for the first time in the organization’s history. Making the trip to Jackson last Thursday, Fairmont Elementary ran before everyone else at the Jackson County Central Tri For Health Meet, simulating to a tee what it will be like to run in a high school event.

“The kids are hungry to compete with others,” Crystal Hanson said. “You know, we show up to something and it’s just us. It’s the reality at the moment, so how do we get creative and create these other opportunities?”

Creating a pipeline

Neil and Crystal’s startup has been helping create a larger talent pool for Andrew Moeller’s Fairmont High School program with the increase in young athletes.

Moeller will be the first person to tell you that cross country isn’t the most glamorous sport in the world. One reason for that can sometimes be that younger athletes are choosing other sports, such as football or soccer, before even knowing what cross country is.

When kids make it to an age where they can pick what activity to participate in for the rest of their high school careers, cross country can be on the back of their mind due to the overall lack of exposure.

Junior Cardinals XC has changed that whole narrative. By allowing younger athletes to learn the sport, it motivates them to continue on that path as time goes on. Moeller doesn’t expect every kid who runs for the Junior Cardinals to eventually join his program, but providing a positive experience can be a step in the right direction.

“By having this program and giving them that experience and giving them that opportunity to see what it is like before they pick which sport they are going to, it just gets the foot in the door and gets them excited about it [cross country],” Moeller said. “I think it’s a super valuable part of our program.”

Moeller has made it an importance for both him and his runners to invest in the Junior Cardinals.

From buying the team jerseys for the first time in organization history to participating in a handful of practices, the connection between the younger and older runners is apparent by many.

“This year we have seen more of an influence from it, where we had more kids from that program,” Moeller said. “Our junior high numbers the past couple of years have been quite low, and they are definitely trending upwards right now, and I credit a lot of that to the elementary program.”