For most of the girls cross country season, practices and meets have revolved around one thing – sticking together. The early morning practices the team had and tough competition throughout the season prepared the runners with experience needed to perform well at the District Meet, which will be held at Atascocita High School on Oct. 9.
With hopes high for the meet, the girls competing in both varsity and JV said they are excited but nervous to compete.
“We have most of our team healthy, which is a good thing and the mindset has been good at practice,” assistant coach Aimee Graff said. “The girls are ready, they’re excited, which helps them race better. Physically, they’ve trained all year. They’ve trained all summer. They’re right where they need to be.”
Junior Sylvana Lopez Andrade, who is the only returning varsity runner, competed on the same course last year at Atascosita High School. Last year, Lopez Andrade led the Panthers at the meet, placing fourth overall with a time of 21:17.66.
Lopez Andrade said she spent time leading up to the meet helping prepare her teammates for the course.
“I think in perspective, it’s a really easy course,” Lopez Andrade said. “There’s no hills to it. There are a few obstacles, like going from grass to concrete to sand. But, as a returning member from varsity last year, I think I have a lot of confidence in my team and how we’re going to do.”
The team, which has won the district title for the past three years, knows running as a pack will build the confidence needed to be successful, especially for the younger runners competing on the course for the first time.
One of the young runners includes freshman Quinn Kelly. Kelly started the season racing for the JV team, but was recently promoted and will compete in her second varsity race on Oct. 9. Along with Kelly, freshman Lyla Hernandez said it is exciting to race at the meet.
“Hopefully, it’ll be really good because I want to get a good placing and hopefully a PR,” Hernandez said.
Even with strong competition at the meet, the girls said they raced against enough tough competitors to keep their calm during the race. While physically the team feels prepared, mentally the runners plan on keeping each other encouraged while running in their pack.
“I’m preparing by talking to myself,” Lopez Andrade said. “Telling myself to keep going, keep pushing. I do talk to my teammates while running, just to push them a little bit more. I have also been pushing myself more this year physically with the routines that we have during our practices.”
*Cameron Minatrea contibuted to this story.
