![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
The Cross Country team came into the season with numerous setbacks, including the loss of key runners, an inexperienced group of new runners, and a new head coach. Although many had doubts, Jay Schrotzberger, head coach, had faith in this season’s team captains and veterans.
“We had several runners who set new personal records at races, so the training is definitely paying off,” Schrotzberger said. “The key now is to get some rest and rebuild for the District meet.”
The team has been training rigorously and has learned how to mesh as a team. Because of that ability to work so well together, the girls placed fourth behind teams Grant, Canby and Lakeridge at Districts. The boys ranked fifth coming in neck-and-neck with Oregon City, while Lakeridge, Lake Oswego and Grant placed first, second and third, respectively.
“The team has made impressive improvement from the beginning of the season,” Schrotzberger said.
Throughout the season, the team has competed against highly ranked competitors and has managed to stay in the top three in the Three Rivers League.
“We finished the dual meet season tied for second; the boys tied with Lake Oswego and girls were in a three way tie for second along with Canby and Lakeridge,” Schrotzberger said.
Even though the cross country team had its struggles and doubts at the beginning of the season, the team achieved its goals of doing well in meets, staying in the top three of the TRL, and ranking fourth and fifth in districts, placing with medals.
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