Girls' Cross Country has room to grow

Only four meets into the season, the Samo girls’ cross-country team already appears to be brimming with potential. With the graduation of last year’s varsity seniors, a surprising number of the available varsity slots have been filled by freshman, who have already proved themselves fully capable and ready for the long haul ahead.“We have a very young team this year,” coach Tania Fischer said. “We have three freshman girls running for varsity.”The effect of having three freshmen on the varsity team seems to be having a positive impact on the rest of the girls, as times have improved significantly this year from past years.“The faster, younger girls coming in as a group set high standards for the rest of the team,” Fischer said.Senior leadership comes from captain Amanda Botfeld, whose performances as a junior last year set her apart.After their first two races where the team was unfortunately divided between grade levels, the varsity team was finally able to pull off a cooperative win at their first league meet at Kenneth Hahn park. They placed first, beating the Beverly Hills girls’ team, which has been a long-standing rival of the Lady Vikings.With many big meets in the near future, the girls’ team continues to train hard and push itself towards a successful season.Danny KarelStaff Writer