The girls’ cross country season kicked off to a great start. Both varsity and JV teams placed first at their first meet of the season on Aug. 21 at the Temple Invitational.

“I was nervous before the race, but I felt great afterwards because I did a lot better than

I expected,” freshman Meredith Hart said. “I worked hard at practice and it paid off.”

The Lady Mavs practiced a lot indeed. All of those practices and workouts over the summer paid off as its results brightly showed through their performance at Temple.

For many of the cross country runners, running is a passion and the root of their devotion to the sport.

“I love running,” junior Sierra Hammond said. “I’ve been running on teams for 10 years.”

For some runners, cross country is a ground in which they can grow both as a person and as an athlete.

“My goal is to make it to regionals.” Hammond said. “But I hope we make it to state.”