The top runners from boys’ cross country team ran at the IHSA Regional meet in Aurora on Saturday. They placed seventh overall, beating out both East and West Aurora high schools.

Although the Regional meet was not particularly victorious, two runners qualified for IHSA Sectionals. Senior Ralph Papa placed tenth at a time of 15:27.16, after an amazing senior season. Rokas Gudinavicius placed 16th with a time of 15:38.9 in his first IHSA cross country meet.

“[I am] definitely looking forward to running at Sectionals, and I definitely have to keep working hard and hopefully I achieve my goals at the end of the season,” Papa said.

For those who didn’t advance to Sectionals, the meet marked the end of the season, and had many looking forward to next year and reflecting on their improvements this year. Earlier this year, they placed fifth at the Aurora City Invitational and 11th at the Naperville Twilight Invite.

“My favorite part of the season was watching all the guys run and we’ve had a great season, this is one of the best teams in the history of our school so that’s pretty great,” Senior Pranav Pitchala said.

While many talented seniors will be leaving, the boys are optimistic for the next cross country season and how the program will improve over the next few years. As a young program, there is room to train harder and grow for the future.