On Friday, October 23^rd, both the guy’s and girls’ Cross Country teams traveled to Kerr Vance Academy to run in the Conference Championship. After seven hard conference meets, the teams competed in the Conference Championship and will finish off the season this week on Friday, October 30^th, at the State Meet in Charlotte.

After an all-team stretch and warm up, the guys started off the race with a blistering pace. After a full lap around the soccer field, the team moved on to the tough hills Kerr Vance is known for. Hills, roots, and rocks make up the course so runners have to be extremely careful and run extra hard to set a good time. The first RMA runner to come across the finish line was AJ Mitchell at 22:10, coming in 22^nd place. Following AJ was Jack Pittman at 22:32 and Roney Harris at 23:52. Jack Pittman is definitely the runner to look out for in the future. With his competitive drive and great form, the team is expecting many great things from this young competitor. The guys as a whole have a very young team with only one senior, Roney, so they can only get better from this year.

As soon as all the guys finished, the girls’ clock was started. The race started with a fast sprint across the soccer field to secure good spots. St. Thomas More girls led the race followed closely by Caitlyn Vester. At the half point mark (about 1.5 miles), Barrett Eidson started to catch the lead pack, pulling other RMA girls with her. Barrett and Caitlyn ran together until they reached the 2.5 mile marker and then she started to pull away. Barrett ended the race with an impressive time of 21:14. Since she is new to the team, with only three previous races under her belt, Barrett’s score did not count, and she was ineligible to place in overall conference standings (which she surely would have placed highly in). However, she is now qualified to run in the state meet, so she will greatly help the team. After Barrett and Caitlyn, who came in 4^th place, came Briana Winham, with a time of 23:35. Isabel Rommel and Haley McCall, the dynamic duo pack, came in next with places 16 and 17 respectively. Similarly to the guys, the girls have an extremely young team and will lose only one senior, Izzie, next year.

After both races came the high expected awards ceremony. On the guys’ side, AJ Mitchell was a Conference Honorable Mention, and the team as a whole placed 6^th overall. The girl’s team scored Conference Race Runner Up, behind St. Thomas More, and Conference Runner Up overall. RMA even had two female conference runners and an honorable mention runner. Haley McCall was RMA’s Honorable Mention Runner and Briana Winham placed 5^th in the conference. Caitlyn Vester scored 1^st place in the conference and was titled Runner of the Year. Even Coach Michelle Meadows got an award. She was granted Conference Coach of the Year Award, an award she has been honored with for the past three years.

This cross country season has been exceptional due to each and every runner’s hard-work and participation. At the conclusion of the season, however, the team is never done running. Off-season practicing and races are the only way to get better and come back for an even stronger season next year. The girls’ team will surely be looking for that number one! Great job Eagles!