Last weekend, the girls cross country team was in North Carolina for the Great American Cross Country Invitational. “We had an okay meet, I thought our girls could have done better, but we were running in the wrong heat. We were running in a heat much stronger than where we were.” Cross Country Coach Phil Harris said.

“It wasn’t the best that we could have performed.” Senior Connie Tran said. While the girls feel that they could have done better, Harris has a different idea on what the meet says about the team. “Although we didn’t do as well as we wanted to, we do want to improve and we are pushing ourselves,” Harris said.

The meet was held in Cary, NC. It is rumored to have one of the best courses in the country.

“The course wasn’t as challenging as I thought it would be,” Tran said. While the girls felt good about the course, there was still room to improve on. The girls seemed to be extremely proud of each other after this race.

There was one runner in particular who was spoken very highly of by her teammates at this race. Freshman Ashley Britton ran a great race.

“Ashley Britton, who is a freshman, ran a really well timed race.” Tran said.

The coaches agree with Tran. “We’ve got a freshman who’s just phenomenal, Ashley Britton. She’s just to die for. She ran a great time, she’s running in the number one slot right now.” Harris said.

The team started off slow, but is looking to improve before the district tournament.

“It started out rocky but there’s a lot of improvement going on so hopefully we can place in districts.” Tran said. The team has a lot of strong runners like Britton who are beginning to race well.

Tran isn’t the only one who is hoping for a successful season. Coach Harris is also looking for improvement. “We’ve been doing okay, but I have high expectations so okay isn’t fine with me. We will train harder and until we start performing at a higher level, we’re just going to go to work every day.” Harris said.

The team has four more races until the district tournament begins. “Our district is really strong but hopefully we can make an impact this year.” Tran said.

While the girls have been doing well, Harris still has one thing he wants to accomplish before the season is over. “I’m still shooting for five girls to run twenty-one. That’s my goal for the first part of the season, so I’m sticking to that goal.” Harris said.