[quote]By Lucas Rhamy
Sports Writer
Photo courtesy of @MeteaXC (Twitter) [/quote]

The girls’ cross country team formed a bright spot on a cold and rainy Halloween morning, qualifying for state as a team for the first time in the program’s history at the Stuart Sports Complex last Saturday.

The team has been able to consistently send individual runners to the state meet in past years; however, this is the first time for the entire team. In arguably the toughest sectional in the state, accomplishing achieving a goal like this is ground-breaking.

“By accomplishing a feat like this, and by doing so within the toughest sectional in the state, it will create a new expectation and tradition of being one of state’s premier programs for distance running,” head coach Eric Anerino said.

From an individual standpoint, junior Nicki Cast finished with the fastest time, completing the three mile race in just 17:57, enough to place eighth in the West Aurora sectional. Next came freshman Terri Scarlett, coming in at 18:25 to round out the top 20 finishers.

The top five finishers at sectionals qualified for state, and the decision came down to the final seconds. The team tied with the Oswego Panthers for fifth, making it one of six teams to compete in Peoria this Saturday.

“We really had to work hard to qualify for state but it was definitely a goal, an expectation we had since the beginning of the season,” senior runner Kyla Ohst said. 

While it is often necessary to highlight the performances of individual runners of the meet, the girls qualified as a team. Even if one of the runners were to win sectionals, the cohesive efforts of the team allowed them to qualify for state.

“Running can be seen as a very individualistic; cross country, on the other hand, is a team sport. Every workout, run, and race, they motivate and push each other because of this team mentality,” Anerino added.

Although the girls are entering new territory on the state scene, their big goals and mentalities maintain the same.

“One of our goals is to beat Neuqua and Oswego at state because Neuqua was one point behind us at sectionals and Oswego was the team we tied with.  Our overarching goal is to be a top ten team and to run the way we know how,” Ohst added.

The last thing the girls want to do is for this to be a “one-and-done” season. From here on out, the program as a whole has raised the bar of competition, wanting to make a name for themselves as a top running program for years to come.

“To qualify as a team reflects on every runner as well as the entire program. I encourage any girl, regardless of their ability level, to be a part of a team like this,” Anerino said.