The Atlantic Cross Country team is looking to continue its history of sending athletes to states with the cross country season winding down. The boys and girls teams have both had multiple top-ten finishes in their last three meets, with the girls finishing in fourth on September 24th while the boys finished ninth on September 19th. Preparing for a race and cutting your time might seem simple. However, Head Coach Daniel Vargason says that each athlete gets their own plan for preparation.

The girls team has been consistently improving throughout the season and has been gaining confidence. Atlantic’s girls have two top 5 finishes this year including a 2nd place finish at Clarinda back in mid-September. Hailey Huffman and Allison Middents have both been able to shave time off their runs while Hailey White, Bella Brock, and Elynor Brummer have all been consistent runners for the Trojans this year. After dealing with some early-season adversity, Vargason appreciates their ability to improve and compete.

Leading the way for the girls this year is the junior Katrina William. Her best time this year of 21:04.00 is currently the 11th best time in the Hawkeye Ten Conference. The difference between her and a spot in the top 10 is just five seconds. Vargason stated that her mindset, confidence, and hard work have allowed her to take off.

The boys team has been a bit of a different story than the girls this year. After struggling out of the gate, Vargason challenged the squad to be better, and they responded. However, where health and numbers were a problem on the girl’s side, the amount of runners on the boy’s side helped push each other to improve.

Luke Irlmier has been the leading runner for the boys team.  His time of 18:34.00 currently ranks 14th in the conference. However, he is less than a minute off of a top 10 place. Vargason says his ability to push himself has been one of Irlmeier’s biggest assets.

Atlantic has just two meets left before the Hawkeye Ten conference meet. They will host their last meet of the regular season on October 10th but are in action on Thursday at Shenandoah with the Boys scheduled at 4 pm with the girls set for 4:30 pm.