The blackcats cross country team had yet another successful season this year, with some of the runners breaking personal records and ending on a high note. Though every season is sure to have its ups and downs, this is surely one to be remembered as there were many notable accomplishments made by team members.
On Saturday, November 2nd, the team participated in districts, which were held in Arcadia Valley. The girls were the first to race, with senior Maddie Phares and sophomores Breanna Bone and Larking Strong running. Unfortunately, sophomore Laila Stephens has been unable to run at many of the season’s meets due to an injury, but luckily she was able to recover before the day of districts and was able to take part.
The results of the races at districts were very good and showed great improvement and a lot of hard work. Larkin finished with a time of 23:00, which is a personal record for her, and was followed by Laila, who ended her race with her best time of the season, and senior Maddie Phares. Senior Ethan Vance finished off his last season with 22:04, which was his 3rd fastest time of the season. Breanna finished the race in 10th place, with a phenomenal time of 20:37, which is also Breanna’s fastest time of the season. This placement qualified her for state, which would be held on Saturday, November 9th.
On the day of state, the weather wasn’t exactly exceptional for the occasion. It was very rainy and made for an extremely muddy and therefore slick course, and the rain didn’t let up for the race. Despite these undesirable conditions, Breanna ran a very good race and pushed through these obstacles, finishing in 85th place. Keeping in mind that there were 163 people running in the race in total and that all of these girls were the top runners from class 3, that is a good placement, especially considering the weather and condition of the course.
Overall, this has been a very good season and the runners have made many notable accomplishments and improvements. We are lucky to have such determined and hardworking students on our cross country team. They have done well this season and have a lot to look forward to in future seasons.
