As the leaves begin to fall, the ground starts to frost, and fall sports end, we look back at amazing fall seasons for multiple sports. In particular, the cross country team qualified two runners for states, not to mention the team’s multiple wins in the midst of another successful season.

As always, the team was competitive in the BAL regional meets and the conference meets. As the season progressed, the team’s offseason preparation started to show as every player on the team showed improvement. Some dropped five minutes on their 5k times and were described by Coach “Doc” McFarland as a gritty group that fought through various injuries. 

As first-time captains, junior Adrian Gin and sophomore Addison Atkins served their roles amazingly well as they learned how to lead the team. Their leadership helped this young team of runners to improve their skills throughout the season, even holding their own against older runners. Prime examples of this trend were freshmen Rudy Georke and Maria Kozlowski. For his part, Rudy ran very well against multiple opponents and helped the team succeed. 

Some iconic moments from the season included the Paul Short Invitational, the District I Championship at Lehigh, and the state championship walk-out. In the case of the latter event, the entire high school cheered as the two state championship participants, Kellan Reed and Addison Atkins, emerged from the Student Union. “For Kellen and Addy, there was something special at states,” remarked Coach McFarland.

 Moreover, with this team being so young–it will only lose senior Jason Zhang–the future looks bright for DC cross country.

While most students were relaxing in the hot sun over the summer, the DC cross country team was tying their shoelaces, getting miles under their belt, and preparing for another season of hardships, grit, and endurance.

Last year the team went 5th in districts with an impressive appearance in states from Addie Atkins, who placed 92nd. DC placed 3rd in the BAL championship and first in both regular season meets at Tree Park and Tyler State Park. Coming into this next year, the team has high hopes with new talent and personalities coming with new students and upcoming freshmen.  So far the team has witnessed medal-winning performances from Addie Atkins, who placed 9th, and Rudy Georke, who placed 10th. Prior to this during their first regular season BAL meet, both Rudy and Addie placed 3rd.

As junior  Adrian Gin stated, “I think one of the big key players will be Rudy. He gets crazy times, and it will be exciting to see him only go up from here.”  Coach McFarland confirmed Adrian’s assessment, saying, “Rudy Georke has been very competitive on the varsity level.”

 Another freshman who is performing well is Maria Kozlowski. As Coach McFarland said, “Maria Kozlowski has shown good progress running cross country for the first time. Coach McFarland, who has been coaching cross country for 20 years, prepares the team well during the offseason, reading cross country books about other cross country programs, mapping out a schedule for the runners, and keeping the athletes running over the summer.  

As Adrian stated, staying away from injuries and getting miles in was his main focus during the off season. Sophomore Addie Atkins plans her offseason, focusing on the areas where she needs to improve. With more experience under her belt as a returning sophomore, she has run much smarter with “more emphasis on fixing the little things that can make or break a season.”

This next season has great expectations with all the new additions and the preparation that came with the summer.  As Adrian remarked, “I’m really excited for this year. We have ten boys and five girls. I have great expectations for this year.” 

Coach McFarland also is enthusiastic about this season:  “A pre-season had us third in the BAL, but I think the guys have higher aspirations. The girls should be a solid second or third.” Addison added,, “I think our strong point is our individuals, and I think that’s going to show up more in the championship meets near the end of the season.” 

Overall, the cross country team possesses great hope and potential as they progress with the regular season and post season.