Congratulations to the girls cross country team! By placing four runners in the top seven, they secured the win for Pine Crest and won their second state championship in a row. The girls set a new school record of a team average of 18:37 for the course.

State champion Tsion Yared nailed her second state championship win. She won in 2014 as a 7th grader, and won her second one this year as a sophomore. Winning this year’s states added Yared to the list of 5 champions in the last 6 years. Her finishing time for the course was just over 18 minutes, at 18:00.6, dropping her personal record and beating her best time during the season by 52 seconds.

The girls beat the second place, team, Bolles, by 20 points, 53-33 Overall, Tsion Yared placed 1st, Mahdere Yared and Maya Beleznay placed 3rd and 4th. Mahdere Yared and Maya Beleznay both crushed their records as well, dropping their times 2 and 8 seconds. Emily Faulhaber finishing 7th place overall and demolishing her last year’s States time by 22 seconds.

Not only did Pine Crest have 4 runners in the top 7, but Cassie Lawlor and Amanda Schwartz helped secure the win as well. Lawlor and Schwartz checked in as 62nd and 63rd overall at the half-mile point, but saved their energy to beat out the competition near the last part of the race. By the finish, Lawlor improved by 32 places, and Schwartz by 20. Both girls crushed their season bests by 35 seconds and 25 seconds, respectively.

Lorrie Axelrod proved to be a fierce competitor as it was her first time at States. Finishing in 84th place, she set a new personal record dropping 43 seconds and improved by 3:07 from last year. In addition, Sierra Stocker was at States cheering on the team and was ready to step in to run if needed.

Overall, the whole girls’ team ran well and clinched back-to-back state championship titles. It was a successful season with a great finish that included four runners in the top seven, seven personal records, and an outstanding performance for the team at states.