By Talia Richman

When cross country coach Elizabeth Brown took over the team, there were 11 members. Not even enough to make up a full varsity or jv

team for boys or girls.

Five years later, not only has the team grown to 46 members, but both varsity teams are competing in Regionals on November 3.

The varsity girls placed first in the district qualifying meet, and for the first time in about 15 years, the boys placed third – a surprise to both Brown and the team members who thought they had received fourth behind Skyline.

“When they announced us as third we were ecstatic, hugging each other in front of everyone,” Brown said. “In the awards ceremony it was sheer honest and pure happiness and excitement. When I looked at the score board later on I realized how close it really was. RHS boys earned 103 points and Skyline 104.”

As for individual accomplishments, Isabella Roddy took first place, Bilaacha Galgalo received second place, and captain Devinne Miller came in ninth. In the boy’s division, Raied Makhamreh came in fourth.

“Most runners claimed their all season best time which makes me so proud,” Brown said. “The runners are thrilled by their success and so am I. They push through pain and discomfort day in and day out for me and themselves. They deserve this reward and I couldn’t be more proud of the accomplishments of the entire team.”

Beyond the medals, Brown is most proud of how the cross country team acts like a family.

“We have zero drama on the team and everyone roots for everyone no matter if they are on varsity, JV, are fast or slow, have different friends than them, etc,” she said. “It’s like nothing I’ve seen before as an athlete myself or as a coach. Their support and compassion for one another is amazing no matter if it’s at practice, meets or team outings. Even graduated athletes come back for summer running and leave college on the weekends to come to some of our meets.”