Cross Country from the outside may look like an individual sport. But at its core, it’s a sport that thrives on the special bond of the team.
Senior Alanie Perez-Lara has been a student-athlete for the past four years by participating in Cross Country and Track and Field. In that time, she has encountered injuries that have discouraged her from running, even causing her to quit after her sophomore season. She was encouraged, however, by teammates and her coach to join once again for her 2025 season.
“I’ve been running for three years in Cross Country,” Perez-Lara said.
Since her comeback to the team, she is currently facing a new injury that has made her unable to practice. However, it hasn’t driven her away from the sport, or the team.
“My injuries have not affected how I interact with my team because I always enjoy being around them, even if I can’t run,” Perez-Lara said.
The team is not only composed of veteran runners. It also features some new athletes, who in their few months as part of the team, have brought a new dynamic in the form of friendly competition.
Senior Elias Salas-Santes and junior Eizeir Tibbs-Baugus, who both have prior running experience due to multiple other endeavors, joined Cross Country just this year.
“I first started running in 9th grade,” said Salas-Santes. “What introduced me was JROTC with the one-mile run, and that motivated me to run faster to drop my time.”
After prior experience in running, he took on the challenge of Cross Country.
Tibbs-Baugus said he has only been running “since the 2025 track season,” his sophomore year.
Though they have only just met a large part of the team, Salas-Santes and Tibbs-Baugus have provided a welcoming presence.
“I interact with [the team] a lot,” said Salas-Santes, who has the fastest PR on the team. “It doesn’t matter what their times are; we are always talking and having fun.”
Tibbs-Baugus is currently trying to get the fastest 800 meter time at Silverado in his upcoming 2026 Track season.
“My biggest competitor on the team is Elias,” he said. “It’s a good thing because it pushes me to be a better me.”
Coach Amanda Auraund has been the one to make this sport a reality for the athletes at Silverado. She took on the role of coaching for Cross Country four years ago, in 2022.
“The chemistry this season is almost unmatched,” said Coach Auraund who has experience in coaching not only Cross Country but also Swim.
She has noticed a shift of the team’s perspective over the past four years.
“In 2022, I don’t feel like they didn’t want success for their teammates, but it was more of an individual mindset, and 2025 is a team mindset,” Auraund said. “It’s not me saying one was better than the other, but they are just very different.”
This environment was fostered by Coach Auraund and has some people within the team wondering when she will retire as the Cross Country coach.
“Every time I think that I have a year I want to ‘retire,’ I get a new runner that I wouldn’t want to leave before they graduate,” Auraund said.
This has resulted in some big wins for the 2025 Cross Country Season, giving the team the chance to travel to Elko, Nevada. They also had success at Regionals with two medals: Salas-Santes placed 6th overall, and junior Elizabeth Neumann 2nd overall. Salas-Santes, Tibbs-Baugus, Neumann and sophomore Maddie May all qualified for State, which will be this weekend. They will compete Saturday Nov. 8 in Boulder City.
