The brisk November morning woke up the runners as they warmed up and stretched for the day’s events. As parents and friends crammed the sidelines and other athletes waited for their events to be called, Richardson runners crossed the finish line, praying that they placed.

“It was really exciting to watch the events,” sophomore Matthew Mastrogiovanni said.

The Cross Country teams advanced to district and to regionals in November, with several athletes breaking their personal records. Both events were held at Norbuck park.

The cross country runners said preparing for meets was the toughest thing.

“Training is the hardest part,” sophomore Ahmad Yehia said. “You have to be at school at 7 a.m. during the season. What’s hard is every Tuesday morning when we run to Pearce, do a lap, then run back.”

The cross country jv and varsity teams said they did well this year. Senior Devinne Miller placed second out of all female district teams by running 5000 meters in 21:18.

“The female varsity team tied for 2nd with Lake Highlands, but placed 3rd with the tie-breaking sixth runner,” Brown said.

The boy’s varsity team narrowly lost its spot in regionals to W.T. White. The team’s lead runner senior Raied Makhamreh placed sixth overall and advanced to Regionals as an individual, finishing the race in 17:30.

Although they didn’t advance to Regionals, the jv boy’s team placed 3rd overall while the jv girl’s placed 5th. Lead runners Ahmad Yehia and Carolina Santillian placed 18th and 11th respectively.

“Everyone did really well,” Yehia said. “I definitely want to continue running until I’m a senior on varsity.”

After a successful season, Coach Brown said she’s proud of her athletes.

“Amidst numerous injuries on varsity and jv, they held strong and fought hard at district,” Brown said. “I’m proud of the work they have accomplished.”

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