On Sunday, November 12, the cross country team packed their bags and hit the road to Natchitoches for the annual state meet! 7 boys and 7 girls were running in the meet, and most of the other team members came along for the ride to support their teammates. At 9:30 on Sunday morning, the team members loaded the bus with their bags and found a party bus filled with food and candy bags, green and white streamers, and signs on the window featuring Coach Fal and Dr. Huber’s motivational quotes (“4 o’clock, ready to rock!”)
Except for a 15-minute riverside pitstop to run and use the bathroom, the team managed to sit through the entire 5-hour bus ride. The first stop was Northwestern State University (NSU), where everyone stretched and ran the 3-mile (or 5K, depending on who you ask) racecourse to prepare for the next day, which marked the final practice of the season. After a few hours of downtime in the hotel, the team hit downtown Natchitoches to eat a carb-filled Italian dinner and see the famous Christmas lights down by the river. After many fun pictures and selfies were taken, everyone returned to the hotel for a good night’s sleep before the long next day.
The 6:30 wakeup proved to be pretty effective because soon after, the team left the hotel for the NSU racecourse, fully rested, fully fed, and fully ready to run and support the team. The team area (conveniently located next to the port-a-potties) acted as a resting spot as everyone eagerly awaited the girls’ race, which started at 9:45. At last, race time came, and it was incredible! Ava Hartman ended up getting 1st place, with many of the other runners smashing their season and career PRs and the girls team finishing 3rd overall! The boys’ race at noon also went great, with 4 runners making it into the top 10 (Sam Haber in 2nd, Logan Degruy in 4th, Rivers Lelong in 8th, and Maslen L’Esperance in 10th), everyone making a PR, and the boys team finishing as runners-up for the first time in 8 years! Additionally, Ava Zander, Ava Hartman, and Myles Barnett also made the Academic All-State Team!
After the races and awards ended, the team made their way to the RV, which was stocked with all kinds of food, including donuts, chicken nuggets, and of course, meat pies! As everybody got on the bus (with even more food!), there were a lot of celebrations, a few tears, and many, many memories made from not only the state trip, but the entire 2023 season. Good job, Greenies! We did it!
