Swain County girls cross country snagged another team win at Cherokee on Wednesday, Dec. 9, with Gracie Monteith adding to her impressive sophomore season by finishing first overall with a time of 21:26.22. Junior Emily Ulaner was third overall with a time of 23:49.91.
Amelia Rogers was the next runner in for Swain, and fifth overall, at 24:30.59. Lily Bjerkness was right behind Rogers in sixth with a time of 24:53.72.
“The course was pretty slippery, and it was kind of tough,” said Monteith. “It was tougher than out home course, but we are pretty good to adapting to what we run on because we run in all the conditions. We have to be able to run well in whatever or else we wouldn’t be as good as we are.”
Monteith has had a strong sophomore campaign and has now won races in back-to-back weeks.
“It’s a really good feeling, especially when I’m racing against people I’ve been trying to pass for years now, it feels good to be the first across the line,” she said.
Ulaner, a junior, is the lone upperclassman on the young squad, and even she has another season ahead of her before graduation. Monteith said the team’s youth, while lending optimism to the future, will not prevent the group from seizing the opportunity they have this year.
“It’s been really nice to see how good our team is when we are so young,” said Monteith. “It’s kind of crazy to be competing against people much older than us and beating them. It’s been very tough. We’ve had to work really hard to get where we are right now.”
Winning has become a habit for the Lady Devils over the first half of the 2020 season, yet the team still has higher aspirations that will continue to drive them in practice and the remainder of the regular season schedule.
“I think our goal is just to make it to state as a team and place well at state,” said Monteith.