The Girls Varsity Cross Country team competed at the Festival of Champions on Saturday October 3rd. Heralded as the largest single sporting event in the state, the Festival hosts almost 70 teams across 6 races. The NYA girls did not have a complete team this weekend because of a conflict with the SATs but four girls made the trip to the competition.
It was a chilly, windy day on Saturday when the gun went off to start the first race at 11:00am. Lea Webster and Daniella Crane were the only two competitors for NYA in this heat. Lea was racing even though she had been sick all week and was able to finish with a strong effort to the line. Daniella raced on the course for the first time in her career and crushed her personal best by over one minute for 5,000 meters.
At 2pm the second heat that NYA had runners in kicked off. It was a huge field with some of the best runners in the country but Megan Alberding and Sarah Austin held their own. Megan was almost two minutes faster than she was at this same race last year while Sarah was about one minute faster. Both girls were able to move up through the pack all race straight through to the finish line.
We are back in action next Friday for our last regular season meet. It is at home at Royal River Park once again. Before the meet will take a few minutes to recognize the seniors for their contributions to the team. If you are interested in full results and more photos please click below.