3.1 miles, 16,368 feet, 12 ½ times around a standard sized track, almost the distance from Woodland to Seymour High School. Ask anyone to run it, and they will probably laugh in your face, but for Woodland cross country runners, this is a piece of cake. According to cross country runner Diondra Owusu, the 27 boys and girls run 3-4 miles at practice every day.

On Tuesday, September 12, at Seymour High School, Woodland ran against Seymour, Naugatuck, and Kennedy at their first cross country meet of the season. The hawks ran 3.1 miles under the blazing sun, but they would not let this heat deter them. Six of Woodland’s girls, including two freshmen, earned places one through six.

Coming in first place was freshman Jaden Young with a time of 22:05. This was her first meet as a Woodland cross country runner. Although Young was initially nervous about how she would perform at her first meet, she ran an impressive time of 22:05.

“I was really happy because I worked very hard, and Brooke (Iannone) and I were pushing each other the entire time,” explains Young, “I’m also very happy with how I did because it is the start of the season and this was my goal.”

Behind her was another freshman, Brooke Iannone, whose time was 22:10. Sophomore Jill Brotherton (22:26), senior Emilie Noreika (22:39), sophomore Emma Slavin (22:43), and senior Jessica Fox (23:07), came in places third, fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively.

“I am very happy for my teammates, especially for Brooke and Jaden since they are freshmen,” shares Slavin, “I am also happy for everyone else because of how well they did.” Slavin went on to mention their coach, Jeff Lownds, was, “happy that they all finished within a minute of each other since that has not happened in years.”

Hopefully the Woodland cross country team will be just as successful at their next home meet on Tuesday, September 19. Their performance at Seymour shows success is not too far out of reach for the hawks.