Girls’ XC Victorious at Coe Brown
Take your marks… and the gun fires into the air. A hundred spikes dig into the ground and kick up dust as the girls tear off of the starting line. This last Wednesday was a big day, as Exeter hosted the Saint Paul’s girls’ cross country team and triumphed with a 46-16 win. Even with several key contributors sitting out because of injuries, Exeter ran an impressive race.
Upper Sara Kopunova was pleased with their ability to perform as they had practiced: consolidated in a right pack while maintaining a steady pace. “Exeter worked well together, we packed up and finished strong. I don’t think we could have done better than we did; we all ran as fast and as hard as we could.” Kopunova said.
Lower Claire McGrath noticed some of the same things as Kopunova did, saying, “Exeter is really good at sticking together, pushing each other to do our best and always having an all around good attitude.”
The cross country course was slightly altered for this race, which was the only hiccup in the organization of the meet. Otherwise, according to McGrath, “The meet ran very smoothly, and no one got lost!”
“Exeter is really good at sticking together, pushing each other to do our best and always having an all around good attitude.”
However, one thing that disappointed McGrath and other cross country runners was the small turnout of supporters. Especially since this was one of very few home meets, McGrath expected more fans to attend. “Exeter students should come to our meets and cheer us on! Barely any non XC students come to see us, and these meets are really fun to watch,” McGrath said.
In addition to competing against St. Paul’s on Wednesday, the girls traveled to the Coe Brown Black Bear Invitational on Saturday, winning both varsity and JV races. Senior Rachylle Hart explained that the different course was a challenge, and that it would have been helpful to train on beforehand. “The course was pretty difficult because it was hilly. Exeter’s own course is flat, so we haven’t trained that much on hills. We could have been better if we had practiced more on this course before the race,” Hart said. Otherwise, she agreed that Exeter did a great job and that the team’s positive attitude contributed a lot to that. “The girls are all so nice and supportive, and it really pays off during the races,” she said.
The girls’ showing at the invitational was an improvement from last year, during which the varsity team placed third and the JV team placed second. The varsity team’s victory marked the end of Coe-Brown’s three-year winning streak at the invite.
PEAGXC’s next meet will be a dual meet at Northfield Mount Hermon School next Saturday. After that, the rest of the meets, which are against Brooks JV, Deerfield and Andover, will be home meets held right here on home turf.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Exeter girls’ cross country hopes to continue their winning streak at the Exeter/Andover meet and finally at the Interscholastic race which will be held at Exeter this year. They look forward to seeing more fans at their races as they continue to collect wins.