Spartan Scroll

Looking ahead to their second race tomorrow at the Don Bosco Invitational, cross country runners tested their speed in their first preseason race at the Fastback Shootout this morning at Arcadia County Park.

Runners do not run on varsity, JV or frosh-soph levels in the Fastback race, but instead run on grade-level teams. Senior boys took 16th place and senior girls took sixth. The  junior boys ran in 13th place while the girls finished ninth. The sophomore boys ran in 15th place and the girls took sixth. Freshmen boys finished in 20th place and the girls ran in ninth. Girls overall finished 24th place and boys overall finished 30th.

The harriers have had a long line of league championships. The varsity boys, boys frosh-soph and girls JV teams have run nine years as league champs.  Boys JV and girls frosh-soph both maintain eight years as league champs. 

“Our teams goal is to try to win for all three groups, [frosh-soph, JV and varsity]. For frosh-soph we’re trying to really get out there this season and we’re all trying to get out of our comfort zone,” said freshman harrier Angelina Santana. 

Varsity girls had a five-year streak as league champions from 2012 to 2016 and they are seeking to regain the Almont League title this upcoming cross country season. 

“Our team goal is to win league. I think for varsity girls, it’s to get our league championship back,” said Coach Amber Ackerman. “We’ve been doing doubles, we went to camp this year, [and] we’ve been running all summer. We’ve added a few new components on all levels. We’ve been pushing our athletes harder than ever this year. We’re raising the expectation levels and we’ve had just a good core group that’s helping each level that are running together.”