The valiant efforts of the girl’s cross country team has led them to a successful season. At their state meet in Round Rock, the team took seventh place overall. Junior Sara Scott took fourth in the state, with her 17:47 time in the 5K race, a personal best. 

“Going into the meet, my coach was telling me that I could get into the top five,” Scott said. “That made me nervous, and I told him he was crazy.”

Though she didn’t believe him at first, her coach spoke the truth.

“I just kept picking people off during the race, and I was like ‘I can actually do this’, and I did,” Scott said. “I was so happy about it. I’ve been wanting to break 18 minutes for so long, and I finally did.”

As Scott ran, her fellow teammates showed up to support her quest to the top five.

“We’re like one big family,” Scott said. “They even all came to support during the state meet, which was really nice. We’re always there for each other, which is always motivating. We’re not just running for ourselves, we are running for everybody. That’s our common rule.”

Before she placed fourth at state, Scott took first place at the regional meet, finishing 25 seconds ahead of her closest competitor.

Despite Scott being crowned regional champion, the team took a disheartening loss, placing third. After their third-place finish at the state qualifiers, the team came back to beat all of their previous regional competition at state. Their seventh-place finish was the highest the Ranger girls have ever placed at state.

Other Rangers also excelled at the state meet.

Sam Torres, the lone state qualifier from the boys team, placed 54th, crossing the finish line at 15:43. Two other varsity girls placed in the top 100; junior Amalie Mills, who placed 35th, and freshman Sophia Perez, who placed 46th.

Sara Scott has led the girl’s cross country team throughout their season, and now it has come to an end. This year’s group of athletes has set the standard high for future teams.