The cross country team competed at the district 13-5A Championships at Warren Park. Three runners have qualified for state from the regionals on October 22. The team won 3rd place overall for Varsity boys and 6th place for Varsity girls.

Senior Alyssa Duhart came into fifth place in the 5,000 meter for varsity girls and senior, Josiah Asmeron came in fourth place for the 5,000 meters Varsity Boys. Heritage overall placed third for the boys and sixth for the girls.

“Coaching cross country is the best. We run early. The kids love it. They are the most driven kiddos on the campus.” said Coach Gaines, Head Girls Cross Country and Track Coach, who has been training the team since June.

“I love the fact that cross country meets are quick. We’re not occupied all day,” Gaines said. Seniors Alyssa Duhart, Josiah Asmeron and Marcus Freeman have qualified for the state meet with outstanding timings of 19:23 for varsity girls and 16:37 for varsity boys. and coming into the Top 20 from both boys and girls in the varsity division.

Duhart, Asmeron, and Freeman will compete in state in Nov, at the Old Settlers Rock, in Round Rock. The coaches as always will be making sure that they do their best at State, by training them hard.

“I’ve been giving this gift of running, and I want to fulfill that gift with everything I’ve got,” Duhart said on a Coyote Nation TV broadcast. “Just having motivation, and my teammates to support me that really helps me through any workout.”

The teams will be training indoors and outdoors for any upcoming events and will also be trained by Head Boys Coach, Joel Stanford. “The challenging part about coaching is balancing school and training.” Coach Gaines who is also an ISS teacher, juggling teaching and coaching it can get tough. But both coaching and teaching must go on.

The team has always strived for success and every year they have showed what they are capable of doing. With ranking third and sixth place.