There is a buzz in the air at Erie cross country practice as the varsity teams prepare for the state competition that takes place on October 26 of this year. The team has succeeded throughout the season, especially during their last meet on October 17, placing first at the Tri-Valley League meet out of the 10 schools present, subsequently qualifying them for regionals.

         The fearless leader (team captain) of the boys team is Lbona Haile and the for the girls team is Emma Osborn. Haile has a personal record time of 17:31 and Osborn has a time of 20:33. “Lbona and Emma have great leadership on the team whether it’s helping people out on warmups or leading a workout both of these elite athletes are always accountable,” said Head Coach Brandon Havard.

       David Marino one of the counselors at EHS and Assistant Coaches for cross country helps the runners discover opportunities for their future careers and improve both mentally and physically. Within the team, Marino has given individual athletes and the team goals to further their expectations for the season. 

         One of the team goals that has been a dream for many years is to both qualify for and win state. The team has already qualified for state this year, as well as last. This year, the team hopes to check off the second goal on the day of the race. 

         The rest of the team ended their season early as varsity are the only runners who raced in regionals and are moving to state. Tyler Noble, an athlete at the top placement of junior varsity commented that “the season has been extremely fun and it’s sad to see my family go, but maybe next year I can do that much better and so can many other of my teammates so it doesn’t end so early.”

        The bulk of the season has gone great and the team seems to be finding a home in the respective realm of the league. Now, all the Erie high school cross country team can do is prepare and do their best in the final deciding meet.