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Common Sense

The Student News Site of Thomas S. Wootton High School

Common Sense

The Student News Site of Thomas S. Wootton High School

Common Sense

Cross Country: Girls dominate, boys struggle to keep up

Cross+Country%3A+Girls+dominate%2C+boys+struggle+to+keep+up

After a solid start to the season, the boys’ team looks to add more wins to their record while the girls’ team looks to keep dominating their opponents.

Coming into their meet against Whitman, the boys’ team had a record of 1-2 and the girls’ team had a record of 3-0. The team faced off against the Vikings on Sept. 20 in a 5K. The boys’ team was unable to pick up their second win of the season as they were defeated 20-35. Junior John Riker finished second with a time of 17:39.68 and junior Joseph Pohoryles finished sixth with a time of 18:52.73. This loss dropped their record to 1-3.

On the girls’ side, the team dominated again, winning 17-38. Junior Jessica Trzeciak finished first with a time of 22:24.03. Sophomore Alyssa D’Arpa finished second with a time of 22:39.48 and senior Emma Henderson finished third with a time of 22:45.73. The team dominated at the top, finishing with five of the top six runners. This victory improved their record to an impressive 4-0.

The team then faced off against 64 other schools at the Pacers Running DCXC Invite in another 5K on Sept. 20. Unlike most other meets, this race was separated by class grades. The junior class was by far the most successful out of the four, with the boys’ finishing in second and the girls’ finishing in first. For the boys’ Riker impressed again, finishing third with a time of 16:04, junior Timothy Jiang finished 14th with a time of 17:06 and Pohoryles finished 20th with a time of 17:10.

For the girls’ Trzeciak finished sixth with a time of 19:29. Junior Adna Trakic finished 10th with a time of 19:55 and junior Erin Chelf finished 18th with a time of 20:57. The junior girls team had 26 points, while the second place team, Menchville, finished with 46 points.

The sophomore girls’ team also impressed, finishing in fifth place with a score of 79 points. They were led by D’Arpa who finished 11th with a time of 20:47. Sophomore Anna Baldwin finished 24th with a time of 22:04. The sophomore boys’ team finished 12th and were led by sophomore Benjamin Fritz, who finished in 43rd place with a time of 18:20.

Both freshman teams also did well as the boys’ team finished ninth and the girls’ finished eighth. The boys were led by freshman Austin Zhu, who finished 24th with a time of 19:04, and the girls were led by freshman Emma Helgeson who finished 14th with a time of 21:52.
“I though the team ran very well for our first meet with only our individual class,” Helgeson said.

While most of the teams performed well, the senior teams had less success. The girls’ team did well, finishing 11th. The boys’ team did not live up to expectations and finished in 21st place. The boys’ were led by senior Amir Van Gieson who finished 47th with a time of 17:32 and the girls’ were led by Henderson who finished 14th with a time of 20:18.

Both teams were able to get back on track when they faced off against Northwest on Sept. 26. The boys’ were able to record their second win of the season, defeating the Jaguars by a narrow margin of. They were again led by Riker who finished first with a time of 17:23.05. Van Gieson finished fifth with a time of 17:35.13 and junior Richard Qiao finished sixth with a time of 17:42.11. Their record is 2-4, and the team is looking to string some wins together to add momentum.

The girls’ dominated again (to no one’s surprise), winning 22-39. They were led by Trzeciak who finished second with a time of 21:02.63. Henderson finished third with a time of 21:31.35 and Trakic finished fourth with a time of 21:37.20. The girls’ dominated from the top, finishing with seven of the top nine runners. This dominant display now puts the girls at 5-0 record as they look to extend their lead atop the standings.

The team’s next meet was the Wolverine Run on Oct. 7, too late to be covered in this issue.

Ryan Ullman

Senior Sports Editor

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