Last fall, both cross country teams finished outside of the top 10 in almost every meet. But this year, they have improved at an astounding rate.

The boys and girls teams have been practicing extremely hard to achieve their goal of making it to regionals.

“I’m going to practice every day, I’m working hard, I’m getting the right mindset that I want to win,” junior Hayden McFarland said.

According to the athletes, all the hard work and practicing has really paid off.

“We finished high last meet in the standings. I don’t remember the exact standing but I thought it was third and that was our best meet probably,” freshmen Zachary Benn said.

Both teams had two runners in the top 10. For the boys, Marcus Freeman and Josiah Asmerom led the boys finishing in third and fourth.

The girls team also had two runners in the top 10. For the girls, Alyssa Duhart led the pack finishing in first and Emerson Weaver finished in eighth.

After making it through the District meet they can check off one of the goals on the list and start striving for the next.

“Our goal: get to regional and however we go from there,” freshmen Zachary Benn.

“We wanna win district, beat Wakeland, win state, go to Nike nationals, and then win nationals,” junior Hayden McFarland said.