The girls’ varsity cross country team, led by head coach Mr. Dan Geiger, is anticipating a highly successful season.

To prepare for the season, the girls have been training since the summer months. During the summer, the girls tried to get together to run as much as possible, and they kept individual times and mileage logs each week. Practice is very important to the girls because, as sophomore Lauren Mammini said, “the final product of the practices is how they end up doing in the races.”

On top of the intense training, the girls all share a tight bond with each other. Not many people think of cross country as a team sport because of the individual placement, but the girls “motivate and push each other to the best of their abilities, creating a team aspect,” said Lauren. “Our team is very close. We motivate each other by encouraging everyone to keep going during every run. We are like a family working towards one goal, which helps us try our hardest because we don’t want to let our family down.”

This year, the team is hoping to make it to CIF Finals and possibly even to get on the podium at State; and with the six-day-a-week detailed training, they are working hard to make this dream a reality. From eight-mile runs to tempo training, the hard work seems to be paying off. In the September 20th Mount Carmel Invitational, CCHS placed third overall for freshman girls, first overall for sophomore girls, and fifth overall for senior girls. Junior Rachel Bohan won an individual award by placing second overall.

With Coach Geiger’s support and the strong team dynamic, the girls hope to continue improving throughout the season. “Running is not about being better than everyone else,” said Lauren. “It’s about being better than you used to be, and I wouldn’t be able to do that without my Cathedral family.”