The worst phrase an athlete on any other team could hear from their coach is, “Go run some laps.”  Well, in cross country, the whole sport is about running laps.  Some of the toughest, hardworking, persevering individuals at the Pine are on the great Pine Crest Cross Country (PCXC) team.  As many of you may know, Coach Halligan is no longer coaching at our school.  Luckily, Coach Baur did a great job this year taking her place, leading what he called “a strong and dedicated group that worked every day.”

Once again, the boys team rallied and kept their status as District Champions! Like last year, the team was led by their number one runner Junior Jordan Gershman.  Gershman also led the team with a season best of 17:09, and a regional championship time of 17:22.  He placed 12^th in the region.  Other than Gershman, Coach Baur explained that the main strength of the boys’ team this year was how tight their pack was all the way from number two runner, Senior David Saperstein, to the alternates.  David Saperstein had a great season and played a big role for his team.  He ran a great race at districts even with an injured hip!  Key contributions from Junior Matt Hernandez, Captain Tim Baker, Junior Mauricio Peisach, and Senior Jacob Goldberg helped solidify the pack.  The team has a huge potential upside for the upcoming years with underclassmen Sophomore Troy Gonzalez, Freshmen Jake Wolpert, Sophomore Alex Meade, Sophomore Cameron Wheeler, and Freshmen Joseph Cabral ready to contribute to the team in even bigger ways in their remaining years at Pine Crest.  Unfortunately, the district champs were only twenty points shy out of qualifying for the State Championships.  Ultimately, it was a successful transition season for the team under Coach Baur, who is ready to continue building the team and bring the boys back to states next year.

The girls also have had a tremendous season thus far and will be participating in the State Championships.  According to flrunners.com, the girls are ranked number eight in the State’s 2A division.  Led by a powerful trio of Junior Savanna Gornisiewicz, Junior Ella Wurth, and Captain Nicole Golden, the girls dominated this year.  Gornisiewicz, ranked number six in the state, led the girl’s team this year.  A former swimmer, Gornisiewicz ran track last year and succeeded.  She broke the school record this year with an 18:46 running time at the Pre-State Invitational.  Ella Wurth also had another great year running in the low 19s.  She currently ranks at number 19 in the state according to flrunners.com.  Captain Nicole Golden also did another amazing job leading the team this year and finished her cross country career strong at States.  Coach Baur claims the strength of the girl’s team is the great amount of depth and variety of talent this group of girls have.  Juniors Hannah Montague and Arianna Garvin, rounded out the top five.  Senior Bailey Pierce also ran her final race on Saturday.  Freshmen Allie Gershman and Sophomore Ali Corominas stepped up in big ways this season and look to keep improving.  The girls had an amazing weekend and earned 7^th place at States.