Girls Cross Country hopes to take entire team to State Meet

Lauren Boettcher, News Editor
October 2, 2015

JUNIOR NEETI KULKARNI runs toward the end of a race at St. Kate’s. “The team’s goal for this season is to get closer,” sophomore Val Hart said.
Meghan Joyce
JUNIOR NEETI KULKARNI runs toward the end of a race at St. Kate’s. “The team’s goal for this season is to get closer,” sophomore Val Hart said.The 2014 Girls Cross Country season ended with a photo finish, earning the team a conference championship and sending three runners to compete for a state title. This year, the team is working hard to uphold its reputation and hopes to get the entire team to the state meet. Sophomore Val Hart believes the team can accomplish this if they bond together: “The team’s goal for this season is to get closer. Being close has made our running better because we are all running together which promotes pack running. This will help us win against other schools,” Hart said.

The girls dedication to each other already seems to be paying off; the team placed first in their Sept. 2 meet against Highland Park Senior High and Cretin Derham Hall at the University of St. Kate’s. “People are always cheering everyone else on, even if it’s just during workouts,” junior Nora Kempainen said. “Everybody supports one another no matter what level the runners are at,” she added.

Leadership for the team includes senior captains Lexi Hilton and Hallie Sogin with Head Coach Rob Donnelly. Without the team’s previous lead runner and all state award winner Mary Naas, who graduated last year, everyone is stepping up to fill her shoes. “We’ve all been running harder because we want [to make it to state] so much,” Hilton said.

Their next meet is on Oct. 3 at 3:30pm at the Swain Invitational. “Cross country is fun to watch because we run past twice and it only lasts about 20 minutes,” Hilton said.

While the cross country girls are working hard to prepare for their meets, they believe their biggest challenge has yet to come: “We have made it [to State] the past two years and have a really good chance again this year,” Hart said.