The cross country team is set to race in the UTA Gerald Richey meet this Saturday after both the boys and girls groups had success in the Plano Invitational with first and second place honors respectively.

“What we have been doing and will continue to do is put in the work that needs to be done and keep the team feeling good and healthy so that we can win another state championship,” sophomore Brady Laboret said.

The Gerald Richey meet will be held in Grand Prairie. Last year teams like Prosper, Coppell, and Forney were in attendance, which will post for great competition at the meet this year.

“Our training has been pushing everyone throughout the summer and the early season,” sophomore Whitson Bedell said. “I’m really excited to see how this meet will turn out because I’m confident we can do well in this meet and in the future.”

The boy’s came off hot after being ranked as the pre season number one 5A team in the state, easily winning the meet with five finishers in the top 10. Laboret finished second with a time of 16:04, crushing his previous time by 55 seconds, followed by the group of sophomore Will Muirhead at 7th, senior Ryan Brands at 8, senior Ryan Spruell at 9th, junior Brett Pedersen at 10th, and senior Bradley Davis at 11th, all within 10 seconds of eachother.

“[We] have seen huge improvements ranging from times to the overall team culture,” junior Avery Silliman said. “We now have full commitment from each person on our team. We grow closer every day, we challenge each other constantly, from having a better time and team character.”

The girls team also had high placements. Junior Carson Hockersmith finished 6th at 19:55, followed by 14th and 15th place finishes by sophomores Sofia Estes and Zoe Bessa at 21:01 and 21:04.