On the morning of November 14th, the Wilcox girls’ cross country team prepared for a big race in the Crystal Springs Reservoir in Belmont. Juniors Joy Dong and Vaheeshta Mehrshahi, sophomores Hayley Yount, Seraiah Alexander and Mina Cvjetinovic, and freshmen Claire Dong and Hannah Warner had all qualified for CCS as a team in the League Finals Meet, that was also held at Crystal Springs on November 3rd.

All throughout the season, the team had their hearts set on making CCS, according to C. Dong. “We pushed ourselves 100 percent every practice and it definitely showed at the meets,” she adds. “Every mile, every race, every workout, they were all building up to qualifying for CCS and running in it. Everything we did had that one goal in mind; a goal that we accomplished,” says Cvjetnovic. “Since the start of the season, we worked extremely hard at practices and pushed each other to become faster and stronger every day,” remarks J. Dong.

According to Vaheeshta Mehrsahi, they all trained incredibly hard the weeks leading up to CCS, and it paid off in the performance. As part of the team, I agree with my teammates that our work during the season as well as during the summer pushed us to make it to CCS. We all did well throughout the season despite a few off races here and there. In the end, we all got our heads in the game and raced phenomenally. “We all worked hard to qualify, and even after that we still persevered so that we could make Wilcox proud while running CCS. Not once did we give up.” says Alexander.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team for making it so far,” says Mehrsahi. To qualify for a team, the top five runners have to have a cumulative time of 106 minutes and 4 seconds. The top five Wilcox runners had a cumulative time of about 103 minutes on the 2.95 mile course with hills. This time was the second best ever for any Wilcox Girls’ team, according to J. Dong. For the CCS race, they were placed in Division 1. There are 5 divisions, all based on the size of the school they attend. Division 1 also seems to be one of the more competitive groups of runners. Overall, the girls placed 8th in the 19 teams that ran in Division 1. “Crystal Springs is one of the most challenging courses out there; grueling hills and bad weather, we fought through it all,” says Alexander, the top girl runner.

According to Mehrsahi, the girls had already ran 3 meets at Crystal Springs during the season. “We knew what to expect and our coaches helped prepare us for the course.” Coaches Walt Van Zant, Becki Van Zant, and Brian Low as well as the team is very proud to have come this far and accomplish so much. “We may not have made it to state, and we may have a lot more room to improve, but as long as we refuse to give up we’ll get better and better,” says Alexander. Their voyage to CCS only added to their perseverance, diligence, and training that will make them stronger and more prepared for next year.