The girls’ cross country league season came to a dramatic close at course Crystal Springs on Nov. 2, with temperatures reaching 85 degrees. Officials canceled the last two races, the frosh-soph races, because paramedics were having to treat so many athletes who had fainted with heat exhaustion. The 2.96-mile course is notorious for its steep hills and tough conditions.
“It was crazy,” said sophomore varsity runner Courtney Schlosareck. “We’ve run [Crystal Springs] multiple times before. People faint, but normally not enough do to cancel a race.”
Luckily for them, the varsity girls raced before the paramedics forced the race to be canceled, allowing them to finish their race and see whether or not they would qualify for CCS.
“The race conditions were not ideal,” said sophomore varsity runner Maya Nag. “But the team ran well and we all [varsity team] have a good chance at going to CCS and maybe even state.”
The team that will run at CCS, which will be run on Nov. 13 at Torro Park, will consist of sophomores Schlosareck, Nag, Caroline Chou, juniors Emily Williams and Kristine Johnson and senior Mansie Cheung.
“CCS determines whether or not we will go to state as a team or individually,” said Nag. “It’s definitely more important than a league meet, but I’m trying hard not to stress over it.”
Last year, Schlosareck, one of the top runners for the team, was two seconds off from qualifying for states. While her chances have improved this year for qualifying for state as an individual, she was plagued with a recurring knee injury that began in the middle of the season.
“My knee has been bothering me for most of the season, and while I was running during the league meet it almost felt as if my knee just slid out,” said Schlosareck. “I’ve been icing and resting it so hopefully it won’t bother me too much during CCS so that I can qualify for states.”
While Schlosareck has a good chance at making it to states, the team as a whole also has a chance to qualify for states.
“In order to go to states we need to place third overall as a team at CCS,” said co-captain Williams.
“If we run our race at CCS we have just as good of a chance, possibly even better, as any other team.”
