Going into their last league meet of the season, the Arcadia High School (AHS) Boys and Girls Cross Country (XC) team had the opportunity to race rival Crescenta Valley High School (CVHS) to determine who will be League Champion. The race took place on Nov. 7 at Santa Anita Park.

The Apaches got to run a course that they are familiar with: the Home Course. As the typical distance covered in a XC race is a 5k (roughly 3.12 miles) race, the team ran the course roughly three times to cover that distance. 

Under the supervision of Head Coach Christopher Orozco and Assistant Coach Jose Reyes, AHS came in first overall in League followed by Burbank High School and Burroughs High School. 

For the Boys Frosh/Soph XC team, the top five scoring boys came in 18, 19, 20, 30, and 31 places and won third overall within their division; the Girls Frosh/ Soph XC team, came in 26, 32, and 55 respectively and did not place as they did not have enough runners. 

The Girls JV XC team came in 4, 8, 10, 11, and 20 respectively and came in second within their division; the Boys JV XC team scoring five came in 11, 16, 17, 18, and 23 respectively and came in third for their division. 

The scoring five for the Girls Varsity XC team came in 1, 2, 5, 11, and 14 and came in second for their division; the Boys Varsity XC team’s scoring five came in third place with the scoring five coming in 13, 15, 20, 21, and 24 place respectively. 

When asked about what inspired her to run XC, junior Charlotte Hopkins said, “I started running XC when I was eight but really became inspired by my coach and dad to continue around middle school.” 

Now that the Varsity XC team will be heading into Track season, those who will be continuing in distance, their training regime is unlikely to change; Hopkins described how the runners will mostly be focusing on specific events like the 800 meters, 1600 meters, or 2 miles. 

Overall, for the runners whose last race was League Finals, it was a great way to end their season as it was a demonstration of their hard work, and dedication to the sport.