All of their hard work paid off in the championship race as the girl’s cross country team continues their reign as NVL champions. The girls went undefeated in each of their regular season meets and took first place in the Copper Division.
“Going in as the defending champs, having an undefeated record, and doing as well as we did all season,” said senior captain, Emma Slavin. “I think we were under a lot more pressure than people realized.”
Despite the pressure, the girls took first and ran some of their fastest times of the season. In the varsity race, four out of seven of Woodland’s girls finished as the top eight finishers, each winning medals for All-NVL. Slavin took third place, with a time of 20:02.4, behind Kathryn Rodrigues (Wolcott) and Cassidy Ngaopraseut (Derby). Calisa Costanzo (Woodland) took fifth place, finishing at 20:13.5, with Chloe Poulos (Woodland) right behind her in sixth. Jaden Young (Woodland) finished in eighth, with a time of 21:18.2.
The rest of the girls in the varsity race finished in the top twenty places, out of seventy-five other runners. The girls stuck together in the race and closed the time gaps between one another. The rest of Woodland’s varsity team goes as follows. Brooke Iannone in eleventh (21:47.1), Jillian Brotherton in fourteenth (21:58.5), and Kayla Drmic in eighteenth (22:23.0). Iannone, Brotherton, and Drmic earned medals in the All-Copper Division, each being one of the top six girls to finish in the division.
[pullquote]“I think we were under a lot more pressure than people realized.” – Slavin[/pullquote]
In the junior varsity race, Woodland girls swept the other teams. The JV top runners finished in first through fourth place. Kasey Beard took first, with Caitlin Marvin, Kate Foley, and Kim Polous only seconds behind her.
“It was very satisfying because I know all the hard work that all of the girls put in to the season, not just the girls who ran the varsity race, but the JV girls too,” said Coach Jeff Lownds. “To win the championship in your league and be division champs too, that’s just a culmination of all of the hard work they’ve put it. I couldn’t be happier for them.”
The team’s outstanding performance brought them the 2019 championship trophy, with Woodland scoring 33 points overall and Derby behind them scoring 43 points. The team has their states meet on October 26 at Wickham Park.
