Freshmen women varsity cross country runners became an essential part of the team throughout the season.

The three freshman runners on the varsity women’s cross country team, Maria del Rosario Chan, Maggie Black, and Sophia Zalewski made a good impression on the team this season, captain, senior Addie McCracken said.

“They [all] started the season on an extremely strong note and have been consistent since,” McCracken said. “Their positive attitude and excitement for each race helps the whole team.”

Until very recently, it was unusual for freshman to be on the varsity team, captain, senior Kayla Lim said.

“They’ve added a newer take to cross country, I did not realize before that people get nervous before races because I’ve done it so many times,” Lim said.

Despite getting nervous before races, the freshmen feel right at home on the team. Everyone has been very welcoming, especially the captains, Black said.

All three of the freshmen athletes said they began to run cross country for the middle school and decided to continue running on the high school team because they enjoyed it.

The varsity team is usually composed of the seven runners with the best times on the team. It can change from week to week, but Black and Zalewski were on varsity for all eight meets this season, and Chan spent a great deal of the season on varsity.

“I get really nervous before races,” Chan said. “I don’t have as much experience.”

Most recently, the team competed at the WACC League Championships. Zalewski ran the three mile course in 18:44 minutes, Black finished in 19:47 minutes, and Chan did not compete.

“It can be difficult in races where there are lots of people,” Sometimes there’s races where there are over 150 people, but [the three freshmen] do well keeping up.” Lim said. “

The team won the league championship meet, but did not accumulate enough points during the regular season to win the league overall.   

With the regular season over, the team is looking to do well in NCS, which is November, 19.