The girls cross country team has once again had an incredibly eventful 2017 season. The girls ended this season with a clean sweep of the Wheaton Warrenville Invite, and the varsity team advanced onto the state meet. Although they did not place as well as they hoped in state, this only motivates them to come back stronger next year

The amount of hardwork and dedication the girls put in this season resulted in not only growing stronger individually, but growing stronger as a team.

“The coaches definitely pushed me this season,” junior Kelly Leonard said. “Especially coach Kilrea. I was in group three during the summer program, and by the end of the season, I was on top seven.”

Many successes resulted from the hard work these girls put in, which is evident from JV and Frosh/Soph conference meet. On the JV level, senior Lily Kilgast placed second with a time of 20 minutes and 11 seconds.

“It felt great to finish off the season on a high note, and it was reassuring to know that all the time and effort put into cross country had paid off,” Kilgast, JV’s runner-up, said. ”With that race being my last race ever, I knew that I had to end with something that I was proud of.”

On the Frosh/Soph level Abby Moriarty took home the gold, winning first place (on this level) with a time of 19 minutes and 32 seconds.

“Winning conference was such a proud moment for me this season,” sophomore Abby Moriarty said. “If someone were to tell me during the middle of the season that I would win conference, I wouldn’t believe them. I had been pushing through a really challenging injury and never would have thought that I would be able to get back on my feet in time for conference, let alone to win it.”