SUCCESS: Poly’s cross country team exceeds expectations at the last three meets.
By Timothy Chen, Sports Editor
Invited to the exclusive Woodridge Invitational Cross Country Meet, the second largest meet in the nation, the Poly boys’ and girls’ cross country teams were given a chance to showcase their talent. The varsity boys’ team did very well, winning third place out of the 13 teams that competed. This meet was a huge landmark for the boys. “So far, that was the best race of our season. It was amazing,” Brandon Joseph (12) said. The girls’ varsity team also performed well, finishing eighth place out of 31, not without some adversity.“The conditions were nice, but a few of our girls were sick and didn’t finish,” Julia Valdez (10) explained.
Cross country’s second triumph came on September 24 at a local meet in Andulka Park. The team dominated, winning all four races. “It just goes on to show how strong we are and how much stronger we can be,” Joseph said.
Another success came at the prestigious Stanford Invitational meet. The boys’ varsity team placed sixth out of 36 and the girls’ varsity team placed eighth. However, this meet proved to be more of a challenge than previous ones. “It was pretty intense. The race was very crowded and the course was fast, so it made for a lot of close moments,” Captain Michael Atwell (12) stated. Similar to problems faced at the Woodridge meet, many of the girls were sick; however, that did not show in their results. “Stanford was an amazing experience and definitely brought the girls’ varsity team together,” Sophie Hrinko (11) said.
“We are very excited about our performance and are looking forward to the rest of our season,” Captain Michael Atwell (12) confidently commented. With three successful races and a team of veteran runners, cross country is determined to win first place in the Inland Valley League this season.