Cross country put on a strong performance at CCS finals last week, qualifying the girls varsity team and runners senior Evan Markelz and junior Nathan Morris for state championships. 

The girls varsity team placed second overall, led by senior Kate Stone, who placed sixth. Markelz and Morris placed first and eighth, respectively, with Markelz being the first MVHS CCS champion since 2011. The runners will compete in state championships on Nov. 25.

“I felt I was mentally ready for it,” Markelz said. “It was an amazing experience.”

On the first day of practice, the varsity girls team set a goal to qualify for states, Stone said. And after lots of hard work and practice, they did exactly that.

Stone said the key to the team’s success is their teamwork. At every race, the team huddles together and shout motivating chants like, “We’re doing this for each other.”

“It was so awesome to be able to do it as a team because we’ve been together and working together and supporting each other towards this goal for so long,” Stone said. “It was super rewarding.” 

Markelz said he hopes to place in the top 10 at state championships and to get a time of a low 15 minutes.

“I want to end the race and, ultimately, my day, knowing that I did everything I could,” Markelz said. “Not only for myself, but also my team. They’re counting on my times and places… That’s been a really strong motivator for me.”

Stone said she hopes to get a personal record and that her teammates will push each other to do their best.

“[Our coach] brought our team together in such a strong and powerful way and without him I’m not sure if we would have made it as far as we did,” Stone said. “He just made such a cool program that has really brought our team together and pushed us to be the team that we are heading off to states in a couple of weeks.”