Every afternoon at 3 p.m., 80 girls traded in their saddles for sneakers.

Seniors Meghan Stewart and Summer Legambi led this diverse and exceptional group of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors throughout the 2013 cross-country season.  From August 19th to October 31st, some of your classmates went straight from the classroom to the cross-country trails, putting in as much effort into running as they do into schoolwork.

Intense intervals, off-campus runs through nearby neighborhoods, and sprints up Kill Hill helped train these girls for Championships at Oregon Ridge Park. Based on the results from the meet, NDP’s cross-country this year was faster than they have ever been. Many girls were running sub-23 minute 5Ks (3.1 miles), averaging a seven minute, thirty second mile pace. Clearly, you don’t need to be a running expert to see how talented this team was.

These cross-country stars shined bright on Championship day as many of them set personal records. Girls who never imagined they would be able to run a 25 minute 5K clocked in at 24 minutes on October 31st. In the varsity race, NDP finished in fifth place, an impressive ranking when considering how fierce the competition was. NDP came in second place in the JV race with Alice Wiedefeld (class of 2017) and Abbie Ascenzi (class of 2016) placing 2nd and 3rd, respectively, leaving their dust behind for hundreds of other high school female runners to “eat.”

The cross-country team not only improved their skills and times, but they learned that you can do anything you set your mind to do. After three months of hard work, the girls can finally take a deep breath and know that they left a trail of success behind for future runners to travel.