Savannah Herring
Staff Writer
Cross-Country Season Summary
The New Hope Cross Country team has completed another successful season. The seniors of the team stepped up and took charge of keeping practices orderly, focused but also, fun. Several new students joined the XC team this year in hopes to find fitness, team achievement and personal success. The boys’ team this year remained in division A, while the girls’ team moved up to division AA. Competition grew for the girls this year, but ultimately became a reason to work harder.
Pre-season began on Aug. 11 with two-a-day practices from 7-9 am and 6-8 pm. Practices throughout the season consisted of workouts like 5-10 and even 12 mile runs, tempo track workouts and triple hills on the popular sledding hill, Magills Hill. The result of everyone’s hard work at practice was clearly visible at every meet New Hope attended.
The first official meet of the season was at Moravian Academy on Aug. 29. The boys’ varsity team won their division. Everyone tested the training they had at that point in the season and saw what they needed to work on to improve their race technique and performance. The next meet was on Sept. 6 at the Abington Invitational. The runners faced a challenge with heat that day, but remained strong and performed well. Neither team won their division, but Tabitha Liucci and Savannah Herring both placed in the top 30 and received medals. A few weeks later the team loaded the bus for the Foundation Invite at Hershey Park on Sept. 20. This course is known for its hills but New Hope came prepared. Many people surprisingly broke personal records. They left in hopes to return for the State Championship in November. At the Council Rock Invitational, New Hope brought home two trophies. Both the girls’ and boys’ teams competed extremely well and were rewarded with a first place trophy for the boys varsity team and second place trophy for the girls varsity team. The BAL Championship meet was soon after. Torrential down pours were not ideal running weather but New Hope endured and many members medaled for the best in the league. The final race for many runners was the District Meet at Lehigh University on Oct. 24. The team had been preparing for this race since the beginning of the summer, and it had finally arrived. The team faced new competition but had confidence in their training, knowledge of the course, and were prepared to run hard. The top 11 girls of the AA division received medals, and even though New Hope was not among these medalists, they were satisfied with their overall performance throughout the season. Greg House placed first of seven medalists in the division A boys. The boys showed strength and determination throughout the race. The JV runners also pushed themselves when faced with tough competition from A, AA and AAA schools. The boys’ team finished first and was soon back on the road to Hershey Park for one final race of the season where they placed 10th overall in the state of Pennsylvania.
The team was able to show why New Hope deserves recognition for all the hard work that goes into every practice, every race, and every season. This is a team that rises early, works in the sweltering heat, frigid cold and pouring rain, all to run and improve. A team that has always shown determination, dedication and love for the sport of running. Keep up the great work lions!
