On Oct. 26, Jefferson’s cross country team placed first in the district meet at Burke Lake. The team won first place for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021 but did not place last year in 2022.
“Despite losing some valuable runners, like Jack [Klopson] and Aidan [Singer], there are a lot of top prospects in our new freshmen runners. Our JV [Junior Varsity] runners got second out of all FCPS in JV districts, which is good,” sophomore Theo Hwan said.
Besides the new additions to the team, Hwan also praises the experienced runners who didn’t graduate last year.
“Our runners that have stayed have also improved a lot. Though I improved both years, I noticeably improved more this year than last year. There was a guy who was like a minute ahead of me last year, but I was like five seconds off him this year,” Hwan said.
While runners generally have improved throughout their time on the team, personal reflection on performances during districts may not have lived up to this growth.
“I set a personal record at districts, but I think I could have done better,” sophomore Max Zhao said. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep, like five hours probably, and was tired throughout the day because of schoolwork. I could have done a lot better if I slept more that day.”
With regionals being held on Nov. 2, sophomore Jimmy Do reflects on the growth of the team.
“Our team has improved a lot throughout the year. Even if we don’t succeed at regionals, I’m sure we will qualify next year with all of the new runners in freshman year, and we can try again,” Do said.
After the results from regionals were released, again taking place at Burke Lake, the team received news that they placed well enough to compete at states. The boys team placed 10th as a team while the girls placed 19th individually.
