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By Photo by Michaela Jackson

Boys varsity cross country placed second and girls varsity cross country placed third at the Paola invitational on Saturday, Sept. 13.

Cross county coach Betsy Meeks was pleased with how both varsity and junior varsity did at their first 5k run of the season.

“We’ve had a strong start,” Meeks said. “Our JV teams did really well today and its always a good thing to come out and run your first three-mile.”

Sophomore Elaina Bartlow was pleased with how she did at the meet as well.

“I did alright,” Bartlow said. “Lauren and I worked together and motivated each other right up until the end of the race.”

Athletes put a lot of effort into how they prepare for meets, especially in their practices.

“We have days where we run  lot of distance or we run a tempo run, which is of a little bit faster, challenging distance,” Meeks said. “We also have days where we run repeats, or a half-mile or a mile over and over.”

Junior Brendan Tener said he does some extra preparation for meets inside and outside of practice.

“I try to push myself really hard during practice and make sure I get plenty of sleep,” Tener said.

There are plenty of meets in the rest of the season, and the entire teams has their respective goals.

“I obviously want to get to a better placing on the team and to improve my time,” Tener said.

Bartlow also shared her goals for the remainder of the season.

“[I want to] improve my times and have fun while doing my best,” Bartlow said.

The cross country team’s next meet is at Wyandotte County Park on Saturday, Sept. 20.