For many Nobles students, Friday Night Lights (FNL) is the highlight of the fall season. With roaring student sections, electrifying games, and sheer Nobles athletic dominance, it may seem as though this night could not undergo any conceivable improvement. However, students have begun to notice a growing feeling that has slowly gnawed away at their souls: a feeling that something is missing. Something rowdy. Something primal. Something like cross country (XC).
XC is an activity centered around prolonged endurance. While running is often seen as a punishment by other sports, XC views running as a noble pursuit. No one articulates this better than Boys Cross Country Captain Alex Cheng.
“Cross country is primal. If you think back to 20,000 years ago, where were the cavemen? Were they playing volleyball? Were they taking sticks and whacking around balls, playing field hockey? No, I don’t think so. They were running,” he said.
The sport is unlike any other, and this can be partially attributed to its inherently violent nature.
“A major aspect of cross country is using your body in such a way that inhibits or hinders the opponents and their running,” Cheng said when describing XC’s similarities to football. “There’s a lot of tackling and body checking.”
This type of action on the course is what sets the sport apart.
While teams that currently play at FNL may demonstrate impressive feats of athleticism, they lack the entertaining fights that often break out during an XC race. This spirited engagement with the sport goes beyond the runners themselves, as fans will have numerous new opportunities for unrestricted cheering and interscholastic sabotage. While the official Nobles mantra asserts that “Dawgs cheer for, not against,” seasoned students are well aware of the true goal of sports: Win at all costs.
“You can juke out or trip runners, read out the wrong mile splits, or even shine a flashlight into their eyes,” Girls Cross Country Captain Sunehri Verma said.
The active nature of spectating an XC race should not be neglected. Fans will run alongside the course, preparing for Braveheart and simultaneously earning their daily steps. Since races are typically held during the day, which would not be possible for FNL, it is important to acknowledge that running downhill in the dark could pose a safety concern. Thus, it would be vital to line the trails and fields with torches, lanterns, and headlamps. Students will also become more engaged with cheering, as the expansive nature of the XC course encourages each fan to find their own space from which to cheer. This isolation will allow them to cheer in any way that suits them.
The times have changed. The same sports simply are not eliciting the excitement they once did. Boys Cross Country Captain Emery Nordahl keenly observed a pattern uniting many outdated sports, including football, soccer, field hockey, and volleyball.
“Those are all sports of the past because they involve too many balls,” he said. “The only balls you should be concerned about are the balls of your feet.”
These sports have had their time in the limelight. Now it is cross country’s turn.
This year at Friday Night Lights, you may have felt an inkling that something was missing. Your favorite moments likely occurred when a soccer player broke forward and sprinted across the field or when a football player rushed for a first down. Note that these exciting moments all involved running, and this realization will reveal the truth: cross country must be at FNL 2026.
