The Pine Crest Cross Country season is under way! The Panthers have been training hard since the summer, as the team spent a little over a week  at Camp Highlander in North Carolina for a second straight year.  Sophomore Noah Srour said, “Going to Highlander every year is really what brings our team together and makes us so close because of the bonding time we have when we are there.”

The team’s first race of the year was the Katie Caples Invitational in Jacksonville.  It was a huge breakthrough race for Freshman Michael Kennedy, who is now one of the only two runners to finish under 17 minutes in a 5k this season.  Both Kennedy and Sophomore Ryan Welch ran with this distinction at the Florida Runner’s Invitational in Titusville.  The boys’ cross country team is as strong as it has ever been.  Last year, the boys finished 10^th at States and are looking for more this year.

On the girls’ team, Julia Montgomery continues to excel, trying to repeat as state champion.  Talking about the current state of the team, star runner Montgomery said, “I’m extremely proud of the amount of hard work and dedication everyone has put into improving their times and becoming better runners as a whole this year.”

It is head coach Paul Baur’s third year at Pine Crest, and he and the other coaches keep the runners plenty busy.  Coach Baur runs a variety of different practices for the team, ranging from distance runs along the A1A, intervals on the 17^th street bridge, track workouts, swimming workouts, and campus runs.

A big test coming up for the team includes the Fleet Feet meet, one of the muddiest high school 5k’s in Florida.  In addition, the team has Pre-States at Florida State University where the Panthers race at the state meet course, giving themselves a great opportunity to get to know the track.

It should be an eventful and successful year for both the boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams with a lot of hard work, traveling, and certainly some sweat.  Both teams are poised to do great things this season, and it should be a lot of fun for the Pine Crest community.  Don’t miss watching the Panthers’ runners do their thing on the track, but if you blink, you might!