The girls and boy’s cross country team participated in the Braddock Relays on September 21st at Lake Braddock High School. Under rainy and cold conditions, the teams persevered to complete the muddy mile and a half course through the fields and on the track.

“Under the rainy, terrible conditions, along with injuries, the boy’s team performed really well,” Coach David O’Hara said.

However, the overall performance was not a complete reflection on the improvement of the boy’s team thus far in the season.

“It was only a half of the distance of a regular race,” Coach O’Hara said. “We also only had two out of the five of our top runners.”

The girls also persevered through the weather, battling the muddy course throughout their race.

“I think the girls team did well, but we just had to keep wiping our faces while we ran,” senior Yasmin Naldo said.

With another meet under their belt, both teams reflect upon the overall performance early on in the season to look towards improvement by the date of the conference meet.

“We are doing okay; not doing great, but not doing bad,” Coach Philip Harris said about the girl’s team. “We are in the middle, but we are not where I expected them to be timewise.”

In order to reach their goal of coming out of the conference at the end of the season, the girl’s team has implemented harder practices every day.

“We have increased the mileage by 10 percent and interval workouts are much more intense,” Coach Harris said.

The boy’s team also have plans to improve in order to be more competitive in the conference at the end of the season.

“We are going to keep practicing and work to stay healthy,” Coach O’Hara said.

Overall, both teams look to improve in their next varsity meet and become competitive in the conference.