On Saturday, August 27 the Girls and Boys Cross Country teams faced the challenge of their first meet-the Gavit Invitational.

Come that morning, the runners laced up their shoes, their minds laced with anticipation.

To prepare for the race, many athletes ate their favorite foods the night before, such as pasta for Rebecca Albright (10) and pizza for Jill Tharp (12). Runners like Tatiana Lazic (10) clean the dirt from their spikes or even take naps in the sun like Sarah Hudi (11) and Megan Durochik (12).

“I’m nervous and excited. We did a couple of runs to prepare for [the race], but I’m still getting my pace for races like this. I’m just going to go out there and do my best,” Megan Zajac (9) said.

Both teams improved overall and individually from last year’s invite. The girls placed first overall with a score of 27. Shelby Carroll (12), who placed first in the girls’ AA race with the time of 20:05, paved the road to victory for her team. Josh Keith (12) placed 10 in the boys’ AA race with a time of 17:29, setting the bar high for the remaining runners.

“[My time was] decent for the first race, but there’s always room for improvement. I think we ran better than we did last year here. Pretty decent for our first race,” Keith said.

Their next invitational meet will be at Harrison on Saturday, September 3.