While the season is over for most cross country girls, varsity runner Amelia McElhinney moves on to State for the second year in a row. She was the only McNeil runner to make it in the top 10 at Regionals in Grand Prairie, finishing at fourth place out of 175 runners.

Now that the season is over, the girls are free of most of their stress.

“It’s was hard to balance cross country with school and it was really tiring to get up at six after having to stay up late, too,” freshman varsity runner Madison Kinser said.

However, the girls overall had fun running cross country and their hard work paid off.

“It was tough at first, but I really ended up liking it because of the coaches and the environment,”  freshman JV runner Katherine Perks said. “Getting second place at the district meet, and my friend [Kayla Redd] getting first place, was definitely my best moment.”

Cross country allowed the girls to meet new people, creating plenty friendships.

“I made a whole bunch of new friends. I didn’t think I was going to make so many,” freshman JV runner Kayla Redd said. “My times got faster and coach [Chris] Cotten is a really good coach.”

Although there were some great victories, the girls hit plenty of rough patches along the way. It was at the Cedar Park meet that they did the worst.

“The season overall was hard considering that we won district last year, so we had that to live up to. It’s just so awesome to have your work finally pay off,” Kinser said.

The girls performed well as a whole and it was definitely their family-like relationship that pulled them forward. With the “big sister” program and spirit circles, the girls bonded.

“We were in our spirit circle at regionals and the seniors knew it was coming to an end and all, so some of them started crying. It was a special moment for all of us,” Kinser said.