The cross country varsity boys team placed first and the varsity girls team placed fifth at the Rim Rock Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 28.

Sophomore Derek Meeks said that the win at a meet like this was a significant one for the team.

“It’s a big meet, there’s a ton of teams there … and it’s important to our team because it’s the course we run state on,” Meeks said. “It was really cool [to win] because it’s something that Mill Valley cross country has never done before.”

Assistant Coach Allison Stoppel said that the team’s results were impressive.

“[The Rim Rock Meet] is very competitive, it’s the largest meet we go to,” Stoppel said. “I was very pleased with how we ran. The boys winning … was unexpected and overall the teams placed higher than they ever have before … it’s great to see the improvement.”

The weather at the meet had an impact on the races.

“When we first got here, it was pouring,” Meeks said. “[It was] very muddy and it was hard to keep standing. I didn’t think my time was as good as I wanted, but I ran pretty good considering the conditions.”

Stoppel said that despite the bad weather, the race was still a fair one.

“I think that the weather did slow down time a little bit, it was so muddy, and the course is very hilly,” Stoppel said. “I just keep in mind that everybody ran the same course … You can’t consider it a disadvantage because everyone runs the same course under the same conditions.”

The cross country team will travel to Topeka-Seaman for their next meet on Saturday, Oct. 5.