While many girls were preparing for homecoming on the morning of September 19, the top cross country girls were lacing up their running shoes in preparation for the 3-mile Richard Spring Invitational in Peoria.

The York Girls’ Cross Country team sent their top 19 girls to Peoria to compete in the Frosh/Soph and the Varsity races. Each race had 67 other teams competing for coveted first place, but the immense numbers obviously didn’t scare the York team.

“We did pretty well,” said senior member and Varsity runner Erin Muckian. “Varsity placed tenth overall. In an invite that size, 10th place feels great.”

The Varsity race seems to have set the pace for the season. Senior Elizabeth Hagstrom unsurprisingly placed 1st for York and 29th overall with a time of 18:13.40.

“Lizzie is a dependable top runner,” said Muckian. “She always is pushing the team and herself to be the best that they can be.”

Freshman Sarah May surprised the team with a time of 18:16.6, a mere 3 seconds behind leader Hagstrom.

“Sarah May is doing really well,” said Muckian. “She is our second runner behind Elizabeth. She is definitely the runner to watch, and she’s dropping a lot of time on each race.”

The rest of the top seven girls on varsity included Emily Seigenthaler, Jessica Zellinger, Julie Biggins, Bridget Burger, and Erin Muckian. They all finished in times under 20 minutes, which had the whole team excited.

Muckian said, “It shows we’ve got a lot of depth on this team. Cross country isn’t about only the top runner. It’s about all of the runners. If our top 7 are all under 20 minutes, it’s going to make everyone push themselves harder.”

Although many of these runners had times close to each other, it in no way guarantees that they will be the varsity runners for the rest of the season.

“The top seven have been changing just about every race,” said Muckian. “I think people will continue to rotate in and out. This is awesome because it shows that we have more than seven talented individuals. We have a whole team of them.”

With all of the new and old talent on the team, the coaches’ role is critical.

“The coaches are great. They are all really supportive,” said Muckian. “This is Coach Schulte’s last year, and DeAngelis and Tucker are really stepping up their game. They will definitely be able to run the team next year.”

With a great team and coaches, York Girls’ Cross Country feels unstoppable. Their goal for the year only illuminates this.

“Of course we would love to win state, but I think right now the realistic goal is 3rd place,” said Muckian.

The experience gathered from the event will continue to serve the team well. With a motivated and talented team and the encouragement of the coaches, York Girls’ Cross Country is running in the right direction.