When I was in high school, my XC team had a tradition to shave our heads before our regional meet because....we were HARD CORE! (and no one would qualify for the state meet) I did it my freshman year because I felt like I had to, but did not want to. Fast forward to sophomore year, and now I am the fastest kid on the team by a large margin. I didn't shave my head because I didn't want to, and thought it was a dumb tradition. Some of my teammates were upset, but I didn't care. Reflecting back on the situation, this high school XC team and the state regional meet was the pinnacle of my teammates athletic career and social status. Being the 2nd-5th best runner at a random high school was all they really had to make them feel important or special.
You see it all the time at high school and college XC meets, a bunch immature and average runners trying to gain attention and notoriety by doing something to their hair and wearing silly things. Instead of taking something serious, preparing accordingly, improving, and finding satisfaction in accomplishing a goal. It really is an annoyance in society at large, with a prime example of this at large public road races. These people recreate a shallow representation of what they think a runner is, or what a hard core dedicated student athlete is. They care more about perception than results. Actually being a runner requires a lot of work and is not easy. Thinking you are dedicated because you shaved your head, or put on a different set of clothes is easy. Basically runners who shave their head or wear bright arm bands are posers.
So I think the point I am trying to make...Just try hard, and don't care what others think. And don't let high school sports be the pinnacle of your life.