On the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 4, the boys and girls cross country teams hosted the annual Cat Classic meet, held at Shawnee Mission Park.

The boys team came in second in the 5K race to Shawnee Mission North. Senior Chris Gillespie led the team, finishing thirteenth with a time of 16:49.90. Boys head coach Mark Chipman was satisfied with second place.

 “Shawnee Mission North has a good team, so finishing second to them is still a good finish for us,” Chipman said.

Freshman Ellie Wilson, who finished second, led the girls team in the 4K race with a time of 15:22.23. As a team, the girls came in third, trailing behind Olathe Northwest and Paola. Freshman Amber Akin said the team camaraderie led to their success. 

“The girls team success is constantly improving,” said Akin. “Everybody continually pushes each other during practices, and it showed last meet when we placed third as a team.” 

Both teams run again on Thursday, Oct. 11 at the Kaw Valley League meet, with the first race beginning at 4 p.m.