One Last Race
16 - Sports
(Photos by Schulte)
One Last Race
No Pain, No Gain Crossing the finish line, Caitlyn Fuechec9 takes a breather. She placed 25th overall at the state meet. “When I crossed the finish line, I was really exhausted and in pain,” Fuechec said. “I was happy to be done, but also sad because it was my last race as a freshman.” Cheesing ’n’ Wheezing After the race, the boys’ and girls’ teams pose for a picture with Coach Susie Walters. The teams competed on November 12th. “When we won state, I was so happy,” Alyssa Schulte10 said. “I was so excited, I was crying.”
Girls Secure Second Straight State Title
Joshua Mica Reporter
T
he gunshot in the air, the roar of feet hitting the ground and the best high school runners the state of Texas has to offer. This is it. The final competition. The girls’ and boys’ varsity cross country teams traveled to Round Rock to contend in the Texas Conference 3A State Cross Country championships. The boys placed 16th at the state meet. None of the boys were able to place individually. “I’m not really satisfied at all with how I finished,” freshman Reagan Whitley said. “I feel like I should have contributed a bit more. I hope I still have the chance to run again next year because I know I can do much better. I’ve really come to enjoy the
entire cross country team. I’ve become really close friends with them.” Despite a season-ending injury from top runner, junior Jessica Rabius, who won state as an individual last year, the girls pushed through adversity as a team, earning their seats as the state champions. “I just hoped the girls had finished close enough together that we could beat Eustace,” girls’ and boys’ cross country coach Susie Walters said. “When I actually found out we won state and it wasn’t quite as close as I expected, I was very excited because the girls did exactly what they needed to do to win.” This is the second year in a row that the girls’ team have won the state title. One of the runners that was on the team the previous year
was junior Mackenzie Muzik, who placed 24th at the meet. “It feels really good to win the state championship again,” Muzik said. “We had to work more because we lost Jess and it was really hard. We could’ve just had the mentality that we weren’t going to win but we didn’t. We all had to step up and improve.” With Jess out, some girls did indeed step up to the challenge. The team boasts three newcomers to the varsity team, freshmen Caitlyn Fuechec, Gracelyn Martinez and Brooke Petrenella. With Petrenella and Fuechec placing in the top 5 of East Bernard in overall places of 22nd and 25th, respectively. Their contribution to the team greatly contributed in allowing the team to earn their victory.
“It was exciting to be a part of the team and I felt truly blessed,” Petrenella said. “It took a lot of talent and determination in order to get us where we are.” The girls’ team will lose two seniors before the start of the next season, Lizzie Guerra and AJ Navarro. However, this doesn’t faze Coach Walters. She expects to have more runners step up and to take their places next year. “I look forward to going back next year and having a chance at competing again for the championship,” Coach Walters said. “I’ll hopefully have Jessica back fully recovered from her injury as well as some freshmen that were on JV that will expectantly come in and contribute to help make our team as strong as it was this year.”
(Photos by Schulte)
One Last Race
No Pain, No Gain Crossing the finish line, Caitlyn Fuechec9 takes a breather. She placed 25th overall at the state meet. “When I crossed the finish line, I was really exhausted and in pain,” Fuechec said. “I was happy to be done, but also sad because it was my last race as a freshman.” Cheesing ’n’ Wheezing After the race, the boys’ and girls’ teams pose for a picture with Coach Susie Walters. The teams competed on November 12th. “When we won state, I was so happy,” Alyssa Schulte10 said. “I was so excited, I was crying.”
Girls Secure Second Straight State Title
Joshua Mica Reporter
T
he gunshot in the air, the roar of feet hitting the ground and the best high school runners the state of Texas has to offer. This is it. The final competition. The girls’ and boys’ varsity cross country teams traveled to Round Rock to contend in the Texas Conference 3A State Cross Country championships. The boys placed 16th at the state meet. None of the boys were able to place individually. “I’m not really satisfied at all with how I finished,” freshman Reagan Whitley said. “I feel like I should have contributed a bit more. I hope I still have the chance to run again next year because I know I can do much better. I’ve really come to enjoy the
entire cross country team. I’ve become really close friends with them.” Despite a season-ending injury from top runner, junior Jessica Rabius, who won state as an individual last year, the girls pushed through adversity as a team, earning their seats as the state champions. “I just hoped the girls had finished close enough together that we could beat Eustace,” girls’ and boys’ cross country coach Susie Walters said. “When I actually found out we won state and it wasn’t quite as close as I expected, I was very excited because the girls did exactly what they needed to do to win.” This is the second year in a row that the girls’ team have won the state title. One of the runners that was on the team the previous year
was junior Mackenzie Muzik, who placed 24th at the meet. “It feels really good to win the state championship again,” Muzik said. “We had to work more because we lost Jess and it was really hard. We could’ve just had the mentality that we weren’t going to win but we didn’t. We all had to step up and improve.” With Jess out, some girls did indeed step up to the challenge. The team boasts three newcomers to the varsity team, freshmen Caitlyn Fuechec, Gracelyn Martinez and Brooke Petrenella. With Petrenella and Fuechec placing in the top 5 of East Bernard in overall places of 22nd and 25th, respectively. Their contribution to the team greatly contributed in allowing the team to earn their victory.
“It was exciting to be a part of the team and I felt truly blessed,” Petrenella said. “It took a lot of talent and determination in order to get us where we are.” The girls’ team will lose two seniors before the start of the next season, Lizzie Guerra and AJ Navarro. However, this doesn’t faze Coach Walters. She expects to have more runners step up and to take their places next year. “I look forward to going back next year and having a chance at competing again for the championship,” Coach Walters said. “I’ll hopefully have Jessica back fully recovered from her injury as well as some freshmen that were on JV that will expectantly come in and contribute to help make our team as strong as it was this year.”
