The girls cross country team defied expectations to win the District Championship for the third consecutive year on Oct. 10.

“I feel like this was definitely the most memorable Districts, because we were not seeded to win at all,” senior Lucy Foltz said. “We were seeded third and we won. I feel like this is the best team we’ve had sticking together-wise, and I am just really proud of us.” 

Coach Cody Cook said he has been trying for years to get his team to run as a pack – a strategy he was confident would help the team. Today, he saw his squad do just that for the first time.

Once he saw the pack come around after the first loop at the Atascosita High School cross country course, he knew that his team had a very good chance of winning. 

“I think that last lap [of the race] was just kind of the key part [of winning], just all of us sticking together and telling each other that we got this,” senior Bailey Eitreim said. 

The team went into the race planning to race six. However, freshman Eva Grunz experienced hip pain during warm-ups and Cook had to pull her. 

“I feel like that only motivated our team more because we were like we have to run for Eva, she can’t run,” Foltz said. 

Sophomore Sylvana Lopez Andrade placed the highest for the Panthers, earning fourth place overall with a time of 21:17.66 in the 5,000 meter race. Cook said it was Lopez Andrade’s best race of her career.

“I was really excited.” Lopez Andrade said. “I wasn’t nervous at all. I knew the course, so I knew how it was going to go.”

All the girls had run the course before, which allowed them to be prepared for what was coming. 

With Lopez Andrade leading the group, Eitreim finished close behind in 6th place. Senior Emma Adams placed 8th, Foltz placed 10th, and senior Sophia Sullivan took 11th.

The team has a close bond and Cook was most proud of the way they ran for each other. 

The team looks to take the same strategy of running in a pack to the Region Meet on Oct. 21 at Kate Barr Ross Park in Huntsville. Achieving first place at the district meet has given the team a dose of confidence. 

“We knew that it was going to be the toughest district race, and the closest district race we’ve had since I first got here at K-Park,” Cook said. “The rest of the district has done a really good job of catching up to us, so it was kind of new for us not being in the driver’s seat this year.”