In Fresno, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Cross Country State Championships took place this Saturday, Nov. 25. The Cross Country team had qualified for the second year in a row, and they took 6th place out of the 24 total teams in attendance.
To qualify for the State Championships, the team of 7 runners has to place within the top five in the North Coast Sectionals (NCS). Convent placed third, ahead of other Bay Area teams, earning them their second consecutive ticket to the state meet. During the state meet, three senior girls placed near the top thirty, and the following two scoring runners contributed to the school record of the fastest team time according to Community Life Chair and Cross Country Coach Michael Buckley.
“With that punch up front from seniors Deirdre Kenny, Charlotte Lyon, and Karina Abernethy, respectively, our team time is the best in school history at 100:11,” said Buckley. “This is ahead of the times 100:56 from last year and 102:54 in 2013,”
The Woodward Park course is a 3.1 mile long course with over 200 feet of elevation according to JesuitTrack. All courses for collegiate and high school athletes have the same first mile and finish, making this course well known within California. The courses have remained the same for decades, allowing for consistent times and records according to junior Annika Carpenter.
“This is my second time running in this meet which is nice not only because it is the state meet, but also because Cross Country courses are all so different so you aren’t always able to compare times,” said Carpenter. “Racing this course again, I was able to see how much I had improved since last year,”
There were a total of 3 teams that Convent competes against in their regular season that also made it to the state championships. This goes to show how competitive league meets are, for these three teams also placed within the top 10 overall in the championship meet. According to junior Ella Andrekeck, this was one of the most competitive races she has seen.
“This is one of the most intense and competitive races I have seen,” said Adrejeck. “Watching the race, it looked like 100 meter records were being set when the gun went off because of how fast everyone started,”
The 2023 Cross Country team came 4th place in their league championships, 3rd in NCS, and 6th in the CIF State Championships. This season allotted for personal bests being set all throughout the season, some being set in the very last meet, according to Buckley.
“Deirdre and Karina set new personal bests for 5K (18:43.8 and 19:35.3) Deirdre, Charlotte (19:13.6), and Karina now have the second, third, and fourth fastest times for our team at the state championship,” said Buckley. “A huge congratulations to all seven of these young women for their successful meet and season.”
