Naperville Central’s girls cross country team has started off on a strong foot this year, with a large group of seniors taking the lead.
“I’m just really proud of our seniors who have stepped up,” assistant coach Sarah Braun said. “We’ve had a bunch of girls who are returning, and who have stepped up as leaders, creating a climate that really pushes all of our girls to do their best.”
19 of the girls on the team can run under a six minute mile, with senior Lola Satre-Morales being one of top runners on the team.
“Despite the graduation of some star runners last season, I think that the freshmen really do have a lot of potential,” said Satre-Morales. “I really embrace the respect that everybody shows for each other, regardless of your skill level.”
At the Naperville Twilight Invitational on Oct. 9, the varsity team placed ninth in a field of 17 teams.
“Looking ahead, it’s always a goal to go to state,” Braun said. “I feel that this season, that is a very real possibility. I feel like the mindset should never just be regionals or sectionals, but always pushing to try to go to the next event.”
Satre-Morales led the Redhawks at Twilight with a 25th place finish and a time of 17:57.80. Senior Brynn Miller and junior Eloise Graft followed behind placing 35th and 40th, respectively.
“I think that cross country has a really good, like, kind of team culture,” Satre-Morales said. “I think that we’re all really close, due to the difficulty of our sport and I just think that’s so cool. You don’t really appreciate it until you are out there seeing the red uniforms running with you on the course.”