By Audrey Williams
Staff Writer
Safety comes first for girls cross country.
The Mira Costa girls cross country team regularly runs throughout Manhattan Beach and the surrounding areas during its daily workouts. The nature of distance running requires the cross country team to leave the campus in order to train properly. To keep the girls safe on these runs, they will now have a safety whistle to carry with them, loud enough to be heard from a long distance.
“I love cross country; you feel better after running, and it is a good way to get exercise,” sophomore Sierra Andrade said. “Normally running allows me to let go of my stress, but that is now becoming difficult because of the fear that we could be harassed or assaulted while on runs.”
While running on the green belt on Dec. 19, some of the girls stopped to get water near Herondo Street in Hermosa Beach when an unidentified man without pants on approached one of the girls. The girl ran away screaming and notified an assistant coach, who notified the police. The administration was informed, which led to the implementation of the new safety whistles.
“Since the cross country team runs off campus, there has always been different threats” junior Jordan Jernigan said. “We have always focused on trying to avoid getting hit by cars, but now we have realized that we need to look out for dangerous people as well.”
In the past, there have been incidents in which passing strangers verbally harassed members of the girls team as they ran by.
“There were a few cases last year where some of the girls felt uncomfortable due to suspicious characters,” Andrade said. “I think we’re becoming more aware of the danger they pose because of what has happened.”
Now, all cross country girls will have whistles that they can use in case they feel threatened or unsafe. By implementing this safety precaution, the team’s goal is to have an easy way to alert their team members, as well as possibly scare off anyone trying to hurt them.
“It is nice that the administration responded to what happened,” sophomore Melia Chittenden said.
The whistles were provided to the team by the Costa administration.
“The whistles show the administration’s commitment to safety, which we really appreciate,” WIlliams-Smith said.
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