Over hills and through valleys, the cross country team is progressively trekking towards another successful season.

The runners began a high-attendance preseason as soon as the 2017-18 school year ended and participated in successful invitationals before the first regular season meet (August 29).

The boys and girls participated in an invitational at California University of Pennsylvania September 1, where the girls team placed a stunning second out of 14 teams, winning a trophy, and the boys team placed fourth out of 17 teams.

September 8, the team travelled to Schenley Park in Pittsburgh for yet another invitational—the Red, White and Blue Classic. Coincidentally, the boys and girls teams were both able to achieve fifth place out of 11 teams.

However, it seems that the placing was hard-fought, as senior Emily Brown stated, “It was interesting because it was raining and the whole course turned into a mudslide.

The high school team had a bittersweet victory September 11 at their first section meet at New Castle High School against both New Castle and West Allegheny. Both the boys and girls beat West Allegheny, but both lost to New Castle. That tragically ended the boys team’s seven-season undefeated streak.

However, senior Sean Livingston remained optimistic: “Our race against New Castle was predictably the hardest for us to win [because New Castle has a skilled team], but everybody put in their best effort and was not too upset when we lost.”

Yet another invitational was September 15 at Northmoreland Park, but neither the boys nor girls teams placed. Senior Rachael Quillin placed 16; however, it was one place too high to be awarded.

Positive attitudes are a crucial aspect of the teams. The teams’ constantly cheerful air is obvious as soon as one sets eyes on them. From bonding after a loss with joking images to exciting bus rides, everyone finds ways to have fun in every situation.

“This season, I’ve most enjoyed the team and the amazing friends I’ve made. I love how we all support each other. Our team is always laughing,” Quillin remarked.

One of their more important meets was pre-states at Hershey Park September 22. This meet gave the team a small taste of the course that states runs, since states uses the same course. The girls team ended up placing 22 out of 29 teams, while the boys team achieved 11 out of 29.

Junior Bailey O’Leary emphasized the non-racing portion of pre-states; her favorite part was “Probably just spending time and bonding with everyone that went [to pre-states].”