Girls’ Cross Country Beats Andover
Red jerseys line up next to blue ones as the gun fires into the air at the annual E/a cross country race. This is the meet to which the whole season has lead up. The competition was very high, and the score was the closest that the team has come to losing this whole season. Andover had two of the top runners in the league on their team, one of them a postgraduate.
Despite the selective strength of Andover’s team, Exeter had a much deeper reservoir of talent, taking places 3-8 just below their top runners. Because of this more evenly balanced fortitude, Exeter pulled away from Andover with a win of 25-31 (the lower score is better in cross country), making this an undefeated season. Exeter will move to their big Interscholastic race this Saturday, Nov. 12.
"I’d say I personally felt pretty prepared and excited going into the race because I knew that we’d trained hard these past months and the time has come to give it my best and work well with my team."
Exeter JV had their Andover meet last Wednesday and had no difficulty sweeping Andover with a score of 17-46. Building off of this momentum, varsity trained vigorously all season and was fired up to take the starting line next to Blue. Senior and co-captain Sarah Brown commented on what it was like to finally win an E/a race in her four years here. “It was amazing to win,” she said, “We haven’t beat[en] Andover in many years and our team has been building in strength. To see our training and teamwork pay off was fun and our team was so happy.”
This race was especially fun and memorable because it took place on our home course. Throughout the season, Exeter has become so familiar with their course that it acted as a huge advantage when it came time for the race. Upper Sara Kopunova said, “The race felt easier since we know our home course so well.”
Lower Grace Gray echoed Kopunova. “It was nice to race on our home course, and our new finish into the stadium was especially fun.” Brown also agreed that “it was good to have the home course advantage.” Their new ending in the stadium was a great way to celebrate the win and a fun touch on the competition.
However, this day did not come without an extreme amount of work. Exeter has trained so hard for this moment and they recognize that their success is all due to the teamwork and committed training that they have done this season. Gray said, “I’d say I personally felt pretty prepared and excited going into the race because I knew that we’d trained hard these past months and the time has come to give it my best and work well with my team.”
Exeter will match up with Andover again at the Interscholastics race on the 12th, so the team urges supporters to come out and cheer them on. This race will take place during some of the other away games at Andover on Saturday, but if you missed a bus or can get back early, Exeter Girls Cross Country would love to see you there to witness their undefeated season first hand.