After falling short last year, this year the girls cross country team was determined to win against their main competition: The Severn School.

In the championship race, senior Maddie Wassin led the team and placed second overall. Runners Lily Holcomb, Carter Eberle, Reese Eberle, Eliza Edwards, and Ellery Shertzer also played a major role in the team’s win.

Head Coach Robert Torres said that The Severn School was JC’s biggest competition and the one to beat to win the race although Coach Torres mentioned that the race was too easy for JC runners because The Severn School came out flat and looked “not ready to run.”

“We prepared so much for what Severn has been in the past, and we worked really hard just to get an easier win then we thought.”

Not many runners this year have run cross country at all before, yet some of them were big impactors in the race. Senior runner Carter Eberle transferred from Gerstell Academy this past year and decided to join the team, not having run before.

Carter said, “It was so easy to join the team; everyone was so welcoming and helpful with it being my first time running cross country.”

Coach Torres spoke about Carter and said, “Although it was her first time running, she did an exceptional job.”

Coach Torres feels that Maddie Wassin is one of the best runners that JC has seen in a while. He said that if JC has a Mount Rushmore for cross country runners she would be on it. Maddie only started running for JC her sophomore year.

Junior Isabelle Parrish is also a first-year runner. She was unsure about running at first, but as the season started, she really started to love it. Winning in her first year was a major accomplishment.

She said, “It’s really nice to see that all of my hard work and stressful workouts paid off.”