It is a safe bet that none of the cross country runners at Shady Spring High School have Sly and the The Family Stone included on any of their music playlists.
There are no runners named Buffy, Jody or Cissy and Mr. French and Uncle Bill are no where to be found.
However, the Tigers have their own version of “Family Affair” going on this year which has been a key element to the success of both teams.
Senior Charlotte McGinnis and freshman sister Gwynn McGinnis have anchored the girls team this year, while senior Eli Northrop and his freshman brother David Northrop have been strong runners on the boys team.
“Coming in as a freshman, you tend to doubt yourself and wonder if you really belong. Having a sibling there with a shoulder to lean on and one that has been in your shoes, it means the world to those kids,” Shady Spring head coach Eric Lawson said. “I have seen both of the older ones take the younger ones under their wings and show them the ropes, especially when the slumps come during the season.
While the older brother and sister have been a huge benefits to the younger ones with their knowledge and experiences, the youngsters have returned the favor by providing an extra spark of motivation.
“It is cool, but a little weird too. I am already used to sharing everything with her, so now she is here and it’s like, Oh my gosh, we are doing the same thing almost every hour of the day,” Charlotte McGinnis said, laughing. “But, it is great that you have someone that you can complain about things to and relate to what you are going through. Plus, living with her, if we need a running partner any time of the day, you have one. It’s great to have a running partner because I have never really had one.”
Charlotte McGinnis exploded onto the cross country scene as a freshman at Woodrow Wilson where she won the AAA Region 3 title and finished 13th overall at the state meet at Cabell Midland High School.
Running was not exactly what she had in mind seven years ago though.
“One of my good friends that was older than me wanted me to try (running) and my grandpa coached at (University of Charleston) for track and cross country,” Charlotte said. “He asked me to try it, but I didn’t enjoy it at first. I was like, why do you run for fun? Then I ran my first race and finished fifth and from there on I just kind of stuck with it.”
An injury right before regionals her sophomore season and changing schools to Shady Spring her junior season has resulted in some ups and downs for the oldest sister, but she has still been a state meet qualifier all four years of high school.
Being a senior has added some extra motivation to the season for Charlotte, but so has her younger sister.
“She has been creeping up on me, especially in the track workouts. It’s good because I haven’t had anyone to push me. I am glad she is here to push me for my last year of high school.,” Charlotte said. “I have been pleased this year and have run pretty well getting back to where I was before the injuries.”
The younger McGinnis has made strong improvement over her freshman season. Saturday she will run her first state meet after finishing sixth in the regional run, third amongst underclassmen.
“She has really done great this year,” Charlotte said about her sister. “I am even more excited for track season because that is really her thing.”
Gwynn McGinnis explained how her sister has been a key factor in her progression over her first high school season.
“It has been fun having my sister on the team. I am definitely going to miss her next year,” Gwynn admitted. “She has pushed me a lot to go faster and she has given me tips on how to make better strides and use better form. She has helped me with strategy like keeping on pace and showing me places that I need to go faster.”
The older sister has also aided Gwynn on the mental side of what can often be a grueling sport.
“I have told her to not feel tapped out. It is just part of the ups and downs. It is not that you hate it, you just have to find different ways to view it,” Charlotte said. “For a little while, I didn’t want to do anything past high school, but now I am going to run at Concord (University) next year.”
The story is similar for the Northrop brothers where David has benefited from the knowledge and drive of Eli.
“It is awesome having him on the team and I am definitely going to miss that next year when I go to college,” Eli said. “I am definitely going to appreciate it in track. I got to train him a lot in the summer, so it is nice to see him develop and get a lot better. I don’t think he really took it seriously until this year, but he understands how important this is now.”
Although young David has not quite caught his brother this year, his freshman times are already a couple of minutes faster than when Eli was a freshman.
“His improvement this year has been very impressive. I know he is going to be way better than a lot of us. He has crazy potential,” Eli explained. “I hope he keeps running and stays motivated the next three years because if he keeps it up he will be so good. Running 19 or 20 (minutes) as a freshman is really crazy. He is like second in the region for freshmen.”
David admitted that he would like to catch his brother at least one time and he will get one more chance Saturday.
“It has been a little weird because I have only really ran with him at home before this year,” David said. “I would like to catch him, but I don’t think I can. He has really helped me with training in the off-season and to be motivated.”
Young David has also added a little extra motivation boost to his older brother.
“I always have to stay in front him because that would be pretty embarrassing if he caught up to me,” Eli said, laughing.
Saturday afternoon, two stellar high school cross country careers will come to a close, while two more are just beginning to blossom.
While the two seniors will have some helpful words for their younger siblings, both want to go out and perform their best one last time.
“It is pretty cool and I am hoping that I can run really well and make it count since it is my senior year. It’s really cool to go out there one last time with all my teammates that I have been with for the last six years,” Eli said. “I am going to try and get out pretty fast because it is a lot more difficult on the first half of the course. Hopefully I can maintain it, but I am going to leave it all out there.”
“I just need to mentally prepare myself. I have ran there for seven years, so I know it really well. It will just be how bad I really want it,” Charlotte said. “What I told Gwynn was you can be nervous, but don’t let it influence how you run. It’s just like any other race, so just have fun.”
The Class AA girls event will start at 3 p.m., while the boys are slated to run at 3:45 p.m.
