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Addi Sriram

A pack of Libertyville runners fight through the rest of their competitors. The team does a lot of bonding to foster community and the ability to work together at their level. “If they show up with an attitude and they can love on and care for and support each other and be willing to put up with some of the hard, because running is hard, they will thrive in cross country,” Head Coach Annemarie Sampson said.

On Sep. 20, the Girls Cross Country team competed at their home course, Adler Memorial Park, for the last time this season. Libertyville competed against six teams in the varsity race and seven teams in the open race. In the varsity race, they took a third place finish with 60 points, finishing behind Stevenson (55) and New Trier (16), while in the open race, the team secured a 2nd place finish with 58 points, finishing behind New Trier, who scored 21 points. 

The meet kicked off with the Varsity 3-mile where junior Julia Garrison took the highest score for Libertyville in 5th place, followed by senior Sophie Krummick, sophomore Corrine Kalvass, junior Violet Young and freshman Mariana Millan to round out the points scoring positions. This meet wasn’t an easy one, with some teams having a large number of runners; only eight out of the nearly 60 runners at the varsity level were from LHS.

“I say my mantra, I breathe in strength, and I see someone up front like my friend, and then I try to catch them, keep them in my eye,” Krummick said. 

The girls team finished the morning with the open race, where freshman Charlotte Stowe-Valdez took fifth, junior Sylvia Richards placed ninth, sophomore Eliza White in 12th, freshman Lillian Brazda in 15th and junior Maggie O’Grady all scored points for the team. The open race had an outstanding number of runners: 222 runners took part in the event, 35 of those being from LHS. 

To the team and coaching staff, it’s not all about being the fastest girl out there. They appreciate the small wins and the steady improvements made throughout the season that spans from August to November. 

“I think the team crushed it today, legitimately. I think in both the varsity and the open race, I think kids went out there and performed the way they needed to perform for this time, right now, September,” Head Coach Annemarie Sampson said. “One of the things that’s impressive to me is that they don’t get ahead of themselves. They’re performing for today, and they’re not looking so far ahead.”

The Girls Cross Country team fosters a sense of team spirit and community that is loved by all the athletes on the team. 

“This is such a hard sport, and we’re all struggling, huffing and puffing every day,” senior Izzy Karl Garcia said. “But I think what makes us love it is that we build such strong connections through that, and we all become sisters.”

“I think a lot of us attribute that to Sampson and the work that she’s done,” senior Emme Fogle said. “She has been so welcoming to so many people, which I think is why you can say that there’s 65 girls in this and you see a lot of the teams here that don’t have that.”

Although the Cats don’t have another meet at home, their season continues until November. They next face off against multiple schools at the Palatine Invitational on Saturday, Sep. 27.