At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16, a slew of high school cross country teams such as Gilbert Christian Classical and Valley Christian gathered at Pecos Park for a competition, hosted by Horizon Honors. Chants were shouted, eager runners stretched, and an overall excitement lingered in everyone’s movements.

After all of the teams had conversed and cheers had been cried into the cloudy air, the runners lined up at the starting line in the green. A gun sounded, and the boys were off.

As soon as the cross country boys were out of sight, the girls began the course. A mess of jerseys flew by, and tension mounted once the girls also disappeared. It was time for the students to come back to the finish.

The first group of high schoolers came into view, and the crowd cheered them on. They crossed the line, and slowly, the rest of the students who had been running joined crossed the finish.

Freshman Matthew Blair was excited to hear the scores, “I think we did pretty good,” he stated.

After some tense contemplation of the scores, the results were in. With our boys scoring eighth place and our girls in fifth, the upcoming meets are greeted with hope and determination.