Girls Cross Country looking to Build Upon Winning Ways

The Greyducks’ season is right around the corner, and the girls’ cross country team has big things planned for the upcoming season. Their first big meets, the Bob Pratt Invitational and Xavier Invitational, are both coming up on September 22. They’ll have to take care of business at Grand Prix #2 after the invitationals. These will all culminate in the Mayor’s Cup at Van Cortlandt Park at the end of the month.

For the team, these early competitions will give them an opportunity to readjust to their winning ways and to build off the great progress they made last season, when they were strong competitors at the PSAL cross country championships and eventually qualified for the state championships.

Senior and captain Jeanette Cheung is optimistic about the upcoming season and is looking to set the bar high after the team’s recent success. When asked what her expectations were for the upcoming season, her champion’s mentality was on full display. “We expect to win Borough's as we have been doing for many seasons now, as well as make it to state championships again,” she said.

The Greyducks have been dominating Boroughs in recent history, and the team has no intention of changing that. But with great success comes great expectations, and the Greyducks seem up for the challenge. With Brooklyn Tech taking the PSAL title last year, the team will be looking to redeem themselves and build off the momentum of City’s into the state competition.

When it comes down to it, the strength in the team is in its unity. “There were no seniors on our varsity team last year, so we haven't had to go through the process of replacing seniors,” Cheung said. “Since our team has been consistently training together for so long, there's no reason for us to fall behind this year. Our members have strong work ethic and ultimately, that is what everything comes down to.” In a team bursting with talent, the seniors who are leading the way for the underclassmen have worked hard to create a winning culture in recent years. The Greyducks will rely on that same work ethic, experience, and leadership to get their team over the finish line both literally and metaphorically.

Though the team has already seen a few setbacks this season, including injury to one of the varsity team’s senior runners, Cheung believes that the team’s underclassmen have developed enough depth to fill the holes and give opportunities for new runners to prove themselves. This new depth and these options for the varsity team are the result of a great work ethic and training schedule over the summer. The coaches, Laurie Burke, Emmi Aguillard, and Jessica Brucia, set training schedules for the pre-season to help runners both maintain and build up their stamina as well as fitness so they could hit the ground running come competition time.

As for names to remember this upcoming season, Cheung provided us with a few team members that could make noise this season. “Junior Ester Suleymanov has been on the rise since last year, barely missing out on attending the state championship meet with the varsity team. She has been working hard over the summer, and I think this season will really be her breakout season and that she'll make it to states,” Cheung said.

A team with experience is great, and a team with potential is great, but a team with both just isn’t fair. But the Greyducks’ competitors will just have to deal with it. “Senior Clara Mohri and sophomore Julianne Yotov have been our team's top runners, and we can expect them to achieve even greater things this season,” Cheung said. To have a senior and sophomore spearheading the team spells out a bright future for this upcoming season and seasons to come.