Girls’ cross country loses key runners to injuries

Sophomore Allison Borch began to sprint the last 100m at the Crystal Springs meet on Oct. 6 as she led the Falcons to the finish line. She finished with a time of 22:45 on the 2.95-mile hilly course.

“I fell at the beginning of the race because I slipped on the gravel, but I think I did pretty well overall,” Borch said. “But, I definitely want to work more on attacking the hills so I can pass more people.”

Closely following Borch was senior Ashley Chen, who finished with a time of 22:46, and sophomore Lillian Zeng, who came in at 22:53.

The Falcons ran the flat 2.1-mile Lynbrook course a second time on Sept. 29. Zeng placed first for the Falcons with a personal best of 14:02.

“During the race, I was really determined not to do as badly [as I did in the previous meet],” Zeng said. “I was pretty frustrated at the finish line since I was so close to my goal of breaking 14 minutes.”

Both Chen and Borch were close behind, running times of 14:09 and 14:20, respectively.

Though the team ran significantly better, placing seventh, than the last time they ran the course on Sept. 8, they lost a few key athletes. The Falcons’ top runner, freshman Sasha Pickard, pulled out of the race midway due to a shin injury. Sophomore Chloe McGhee did not compete because of an injury from a soccer tournament the weekend prior to the meet. Senior Kimberly Chen also did race because she was not feeling well and had a hamstring injury.

Though McGhee and Pickard took a few weeks off from running to heal their injuries, they both plan to race at the 3.1-mile course at Baylands Park on Oct. 20. The Falcons will also compete for a third time at Lynbrook High on Oct. 29. Their season culminates at the CCS