Green Hope Cross Country

All year the girls team was favored to make it a 3^rd state title in a row, but each year is long and can be unpredictable. When the race ended Saturday at Beeson Park in Kernersville and it was apparent that the girls would bring home another title it was a mix of relief, excitement, and anticipation of what lies ahead for the girls.

The Green Hope girls went out hard and maintained position near the front of the race throughout. By the second half of the race Mo McDonnell and Erica Amatori were battling with the lead pack and Lauren Colberg and Jessie Rossabi were in the second pack with Sarah Alexander just behind that group. Theresa Enright and Savannah Lips slowly moved up throughout the race. While the team title never appeared in doubt, it was an interesting race in terms of where each girl would finish. In the end, Mo displayed her famous kick and beat two strong runners down the stretch to finish in 4^th (PR of 18:00), followed closely by Erica (18:21) in 7^th place. Jessie (18:39) edged out Lauren (18:40) and Sarah (18:49) rounded out the 5 scoring girls. Theresa (18:56) and Savannah (19:11) also ran great in their first state meet appearance.

The state title ended a remarkable four year run wearing the Falcons uniform for the senior girls. As freshmen this year’s senior class earned a state runner-up finish (the school’s best finish to that point) and since has gone on to win 3 state titles, attain national recognition as one of the best teams in the nation, and become widely recognized as the best girls team in the history of the state. Now the girls will run under the Western Cary Track Club and try to earn a return trip to the Nike Cross Country National Championship race in Portland, Oregon. They will run in the Nike Southeast Regional at Wake Med Soccer Park on Saturday November 26^th. They will battle all of the top high school teams from the southeastern United States for one of two automatic bids for an all-expense paid trip to Oregon. Good luck to the girls and congratulations on another amazing year!