During the fall season, girls’ cross country finished their season with third place at regionals and ninth out of 18 teams during sectionals.
As usual, sports have highs and lows. Organizations grow closer together through social interaction or growth as a team. With girls’ cross country, that growth helped with their overall results and pushed them past their limits.
OH sophomore Alivia Kath voiced her team’s goal by stating, “We had our eyes on the prize all season long, knowing that we were aiming for sectionals.”
During the 2024 season, the girls did not place at regionals and did not move on to sectionals. However, this season, the girls did the complete opposite. The team dominated in regionals and placed better than half of the teams at sectionals.
“A driving moment for me was doing it for the team and giving the freshmen a chance to experience that pride”, said OH junior Morgan Bradley.
A majority of that postseason roster happened to be underclassmen with the exception of some juniors. Freshmen Josie Beiler and Lindsey Sturm, then Sophomores Alivia Kath, Sophia Padilla, and Araceli Desimoni, alongside junior Morgan Bradley, all represented the postseason roster.
OH freshmen Lindsey Sturm said, “I feel like I’ve mentally improved, and I feel like everyone on my team can speak for that. Especially during sectionals when everyone got a PR, I feel like that really showed our hard work.”
A ‘PR’ is a term that the athletes use to describe a ‘personal record’ whenever a faster time is set. When their new best time is set in stone, they call it a PR to acknowledge the achievement they just set.
While a PR is a good feeling, not every single race results in a PR. There is still training that the girls have to go through so that they are able to get faster and faster, so that they can achieve a PR.
“Throughout the season, some goals were accomplished, and some still weren’t. – I still gotta remember that progress takes time,” said OH Sophomore Sophia Padilla.
With the results of the 2024 season being the complete opposite and the team falling short, Kath said, “It felt incomplete to me. – Seeing our team not make it to sectionals last year was kind of my motivation this year.”
Seeing as the team took this hardship and had an impactful 2025 season, it shows how they work together and motivate each other to be their best.
One piece that motivated the team to be their best was their head coach, Alicia Rafferty, known to the team as “Zim.” Bradley said, “Zim’s coaching style was a lot more motivational towards everyone. I feel like that sets us up for success.”
A factor that led to the athletes moving up was their confidence. Some believed that they fell short because they worked a lot more individually last year rather than as a team. With that mindset changing, it resulted in high excitement and well-placed results.
Highs and lows help define experiences and lead people on a path. The path that Girls Cross Country set themselves on ended up leading to 3rd place in regionals, 9th in sectionals, and an overwhelming amount of personal records and growth.
Howdy! My name is Liam Piekarczyk and I am a first year staff reporter and in my senior year of high school. I am involved in the school's cross country, swim and dive, and track and field team. I am also an editor for the 25/26 reflector yearbook staff. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback for our publication!
