Though their sport is notoriously difficult, this year’s girls cross-country squad is pushing through the pain on the heels of their intrepid captain, Addie Eakin ’27.

A senior from Williamstown, Mass., Eakin has already set the tone for the team, one in which everyone pushes their teammates to succeed despite—or because of—the sport’s unique challenges.

“She’s really good at bringing people together, she’s super motivating and supportive and energetic,” said Thea Hilbink, a senior returning to the team after a year spent aboard in Rennes, France. Thea added that, like captains of the past including Maya Zesiger and Lucy Hoyt, Eakin is a positive force in “getting through the hard stuff together.”

“Running is really hard,” added Julia Lloret ’30, “so you have to have a really good team. You have to be surrounded by people who make it easier.”

The cross-country team’s schedule includes circuit drills, long runs, journeys out to nearby Mt. Tom Reservoir, Wednesday pool workouts, and “Friday Fun Days,” a tradition Eakin has continued, which adds some spirit and silliness to their end-of-the-week miles. Their theme on Friday, Sept. 18, was fun socks; the opening week the team wore Williston colors.

“It gets the girls excited,” said Eakin. “We run all together and listen to music on a collaborative playlist. It unites everyone and gives everyone, especially younger girls, a voice and say in what we do.”

Eakin and the squad are coached by Christa Talbot Syfu ’98 and Jess Tabb Wood, both avid runners who bring decades of both running and coaching expertise to the job.

Talbot Syfu called Eakin a “great leader,” and said she excels at bringing people together.

“She brings great energy, works really hard, and is encouraging,” she said.

Hilbink, along with standout ninth grader Grace Cooney, who ran a personal best of 20 minutes, 40 seconds, in a 5k as an eighth grader, had wonderful praise for their coaches as well as their captain.

“She’s [Eakin] awesome,” said Cooney, who trains with Eakin on Mondays when the two run with the boys team.

Lloret agrees.

“She’s a great captain,” said Lloret, who is in her second year on the team. “She’s really organized, always sends us reminders, helps build team playlists, leads stretches—she does everything. She’s like another coach.”

Eakin, Lloret and her teammates agree, has built the culture in such a way that the difficulty of the sport is a point of pride for its participants, who not only push themselves every day on the course, but cheer for each other at every opportunity.

Eakin will take her talents to Colby College next year, where she’ll be a tri-sport Division III athlete in cross-country, indoor track, and outdoor track. Though she’s at the peak of her powers right now, her entry into the sport she loves came somewhat by chance.

At the end of seventh grade—she had never been a runner prior to then—Addie explained that her mom made her go out for cross-country; until then, she’d been playing soccer with her twin sister, Liv.

“My mom wanted me to try my own thing,” Eakin said.

It didn’t work out.

“I hated it,” she laughed. “We only ran like two miles and I hated it.” Addie admitted, when out of the coach’s line of sight, she and a friend would “would walk with a bag of Goldfish. We would just sit in the grass and eat it.”

Eventually, however, she came to find her footing. And now, just a few short years later, Eakin embraces the struggle and does her best to help others see the joy behind the hard work.

“Obviously running is such a hard sport, but what’s most important is not times, but attitude, showing up for one another being excited every day to run,” Eakin said. “Running is so challenging, so having such good sportsmanship, and building a strong, tight knit team is way more important than any time or win,” she added. “If we aren’t going to be the fastest, we’re going to have the best team chemistry.”

Though it’s a grueling sport, and Maine isn’t known for its balmy year-round temperatures, Eakin has for the past four years been preparing for her future. This includes 6:30 a.m. runs with Coach Talbot Syfu in the winter during which she wears a ski mask, a heated vest, and four layers.

In Eakin’s characteristic upbeat way, she brushes off any intimation that the cold will be a problem.

“I think the snow is beautiful,” she said.