The OHS cross country team’s season came to an end on Nov. 9 at the AIA State Cross Country Championships which was hosted at Cave Creek Golf Course.
Led by coach Michael Lauch, six runners qualified for state. Sebastian Kwit, junior, qualified individually. The varsity girls team qualified, consisting of juniors, Kyra “Kyky” Lopez, Brianna Parsons and Savannah Toups, and sophomores Analise Nicholson and Shauri Thomas.
The girls team placed 12th overall, with a combined time of 1:46:03.78.
Every runner raced admirably, with notable performances by Lopez, who finished 8th overall, and Thomas, who finished 40th. Kwit finished in 57th.
However, despite doing well at state, the girls team had to get past various difficulties throughout the season in order to qualify.
“This season was kind of a developing season,” Lopez said. “We struggled with a lot of injuries this year and that was a big hurdle we had to overcome, but we’re developing really fast runners.”
With only two seniors on the team this year, the team’s prospects for next year are confident.
“Hopefully next year we have a bigger team,” Thomas said. “And that everyone will come back stronger.”
