The Lakeland cross-country team has always been such a good group of people who are always having a good time.
But someone who can always stand out and make anyone laugh, and that person is freshman Frank McCarthy.
McCarthy has been participating in cross country since 8th grade.
“I was at a brand new school, and the lady at the office signing me up said they had two fall sports, which were cross-country and volleyball,” McCarthy said.” I knew I could not do volleyball, so I said cross country, not even fully understanding what it was, and that landed me here doing it next year.”
Sophomore Charlie Mattila loves having McCarthy on the team. He is great to everyone and always has high spirits.
“Frank is a very energetic kid,” Mattila said. “He can be a little squirrely, (and) he is a really fun character to have on the team.”
Even with McCarthy being his energetic self, he still takes time to be a good teammate.
“I would describe myself as weird and quirky half the time and the other half trying to be as cool as possible and fit in with everyone,” McCarthy said.
He also tends to be very generous towards his teammates.
“He is one of those teammates that will do anything for you, but he will only do it on race day,” Matilla said. “We normally have 3-4 hours from when we get to the meet until we get to run once everyone else goes. He is a really fun person to be around.”
Freshman Joshua Smith has been friends with McCarthy since 8th grade and thinks of him as a good friend.
“He’s really funny, he is a super kind person in general, he has such a good sense of humor and vibes in general,” Smith said.
Coach Shannon Hall feels just as everyone else does about McCarthy.
“He likes to joke and have fun with his peers during downtime.,” Hall said. “He is also a kind person and treats all of his teammates really well. He cheers them on at practice and at meets, and everyone enjoys spending time with him.”
McCarthy is only a freshman, so he has not gotten the whole experience of high school sports, but even with this, he has still loved every second of being a part of the cross country team and loves everyone.
“Everyone on the cross country team is amazing,’’ McCarthy said. “Even though it is seen as more of an individual sport, everyone on the team has a job, and they are really good at their job.”
The cross country team is always a fun group to be around, whether it is something silly like making sure everyone is laughing and having a good time during warmups. It is so important that everyone has a good time, and McCarthy is that guy to makes everyone laugh.