The girls cross country team competed at 6A State Championship Saturday, Nov. 1 at Rim Rock Farm. The girls team scored 157 points, placing them fifth overall. From the boys team seniors Anderson Strack and Jordan Schierbaum also individually ran at the meet.
According to head cross country coach Chris McAfee, the team placed exactly where they should have in retrospect to last season.
“After last year, we were fourth and half of the varsity team had graduated, including two of the top runners in the state,” McAfee said. “Come back this year, [and] we finished fifth. I think it is quite the accomplishment.”
Junior Audrey Howard, who finished with a time of 19:07, reflects on her improvement since the beginning of the season.
“[Individually], I did pretty good,” Howard said. “I was ranked 19th going into the season, and I got sixth, so I jumped up places.”
Strack, who placed 11th at the meet, expresses why the race went so well for him.
“Well, my race was good, and there weren’t really any lows,” Strack said. “I feel like it was just a good meet in general.”
McAfee believes that the girls’ close bonds tied the team together and improved performances throughout the season.
“The girls had a really good culture, and I think they had really come together as a team,” McAfee said. “They embraced this idea of a team over themselves, and so their motto for the year was a week before me, and I think that was a good rallying point for them all season long.”
