Cross country girls at Harriton this year are off to a good start, and looking up. The three captains this year are Molly Rothschild, Kate Galbo, and Rachel Marx . The team has also had some recent additions of sophomores Samantha Lincoln and Yidi Wu, and freshmen Jess Herman and Hilary Lemonick.

The very first league meet of the Cross Country season of 2010 took place at Upper Merion last Wednesday, September 15^th, between Upper Merion, Conestoga, Harriton, and Garnet Valley. The entire length was 5K. Though race of the season had a strange and unfamiliar course, including a portion through a small creek, Harriton’s Cross Country girls finished the race in good spirits. Samantha Lincoln, Karen Irvine, and Andrea Sobel were the top three runners for this race. Samantha recalls that, “The feeling you get after you finish a race is the best feeling in the world. Nine girls in total attended this race, with a general feeling of satisfaction with how the results turned out and expectations for faster times in the future. Harriton girls placed fourth overall in this meet.

Shortly after this race, the Bulldog Invitational at Rose Tree Media Park took place on Saturday, September 18^th. This course was familiar to all of the runners. Unfortunately, this race collided with Yom Kippur. Due to the need to fast, especially with the restriction on water, many were unable to attend. The girls raced against a number of schools who were invited, including Agnes Irwin, Springfield, Radnor, Kennett, Merion Mercy, and Archbishop Prendergast in the AA races. The two varsity runners did well, Ally McLaughlin placing 6^th overall with a time of 19:42:2 for her 5K, as did Karen Irvine with a time of 24:20:6, improving on her time by over ninety seconds from her race on Wednesday. All of the JV girls also cut their times from the race at Upper Merion. Of the JV runners, Kate Galbo came in at approximately 23:58 for her 5K, with Yidi Wu and Rachel Marx following behind within twenty seconds. After finishing this race on Saturday, the runners looked forward to a rest day on Sunday.

These two first races have left the team with a consensus of satisfaction with the beginning of the season. Kate Galbo and Rachel Marx, two of the captains, agree that “Cross Country is a tough sport. It pushes you to keep on going, resist the urge to stop, and in the end you’ll become stronger.” Rachel Marx added,” Our sport is your sport’s punishment.” With the end of these two meets, the girls remain without any serious injuries and in good shape, looking forward to the season that is to come.