Distance to Sprints wrote:
About fifteen years ago, I took over a girls HS XC team (I was already the track coach). There was a pretty good amount of raw talent there, but they hadn't been very successful (ninth in a 16 team regional the year before). The returning number 3 (20:20 the year before) decided she was "too busy" to go to camp with us the first week of the season and once the season started, kept making excuses why she had to miss one of two practices a week (work, choir practice, etc.)
On the other hand, a girl on the team who had run 22:30 the year before ran more over the summer than she ever had in her career while working a job and participating in marching band practices. She would also pick up other girls in her car to take them running with her (guess who got elected captain).
Returning number three slowly rounded into shape and ended up being our number 6 at a dual meet in late September after being 8-9 in the previous few meets. That Friday, she decided to skip practice because singing the national anthem at the boys' soccer game was more important. On Saturday morning, she showed up to catch the bus for our invite that day and couldn't believe I had the nerve to tell her she was running JV that day. She swore at me in front of the entire team and quit on the spot.
Our team captain got the team together and said they could do better without the girl who quit. The real team (the ones who were there day and day out instead of when it was convenient for them) bonded and started improving. A month later, the team finished third in our region and 19th at the state meet.
If your job was a higher priority, fine. That is your choice. You were rewarded with a paycheck for your efforts. However, your teammates chose to make XC a priority and their reward is coming in the fall.
That's a great story. You did the right thing.