Both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams ran in the 4A district cross country meet on October 17, 2019, at Old Celina Park and qualified for regionals.

The teams have been preparing all season for this meet by running long distances, speed workouts, and recovery. The teams had good nutrition all week to have maximum energy.

“I prepared for the meet by making sure I ate super well all week and stacked up on carbs,” senior Alison Kocsis said. “I also rested when I needed to and went hard on our tougher workouts.”

Both teams placed third at the district meet meaning they will advance to the regional meet.

“The teams performed well and I wished we would’ve performed at a higher level and we will definitely go throw down at the regional meet coming up,” sophomore Tristen Weaver said.

Shortly after the race, the teams found out that they qualified for regionals and they were excited to advance.

“Once my teammates and I learned that we were going to be able to run in the regional meet this year, we were all ecstatic,” junior Madeline Graham said.

“I was so excited my watch sent an incident alert to my dad because my heart rate went so high,” freshman Abigail Bass said. “We were all screaming, jumping, and hugging each other\; it was the most amazing experience.”

The teams prepared all season for the district meet and this week they started preparing for regionals by working hard and staying healthy.

“Right now the key is to run a lower overall volume but focus on speed and staying healthy,” Coach Clay McCarter said. “ At this time of the year being healthy is the key. It’s been a lot of miles to this point so the fact that everyone is still in one piece makes me feel a lot better about the regional meet.”

The cross country teams will have their regional meet on Monday, October 28, 2019, at the University of Texas in Arlington.

“I feel the team will be successful at the regional meet,” coach Kelley Pitzer said. “We have a great group of runners who have continued to work hard and train at very high levels.”