The hard work of the Raiders’ cross country team is paying off this season. So far, the men are undefeated in all Prince George’s County meets, and the women are consistently in the top two, alternating with Bowie for first in Prince George’s County meets.

Coach Robert Stevens stated he is “content with the effort put forth this year,” but that he’d “never be content with the results.” Progress is the philosophy of the Raiders Cross Country team. Sadly, this year was riddled with many injuries to key runners, such as junior Edward Belsoi who has an ankle injury, sophomore Opeyemi Olayiwola who has a swollen foot, and senior Mary Anna Brogi who had a knee injury. Despite that, the team managed to achieve several victories.

The loss of five senior boys’ varsity runners (Timothy Crane, Alexander Dessiatoun, Hylton Irons, David Moore, and Alain Severin) and three senior girls’ varsity runners (Caroline Ahalt, Mary Anna Brogi, and Celeste Corona) indicates that next year could potentially be a rebuilding year.  However, many of the junior varsity runners are ready to step up and work towards being on varsity next year.

Sophomore Zachary Fortune, who arrived late in the season, said  “it was hard getting used to the practices everyday,” but he aims to keep on working hard in hopes of running for varsity.

Junior Chris Bickerstaff is also working towards that goal. ” I initially struggled with cross country workouts more than track” because of the fact that long runs were taken more seriously, he explained. However, he continued, knowing that “the meets were competitive” helped him push himself to work harder at practices.

The remaining varsity team includes juniors Bryce Dubayah and Edward Belsoi, and sophomore Opeyemi Olayiwola for men’s. For women’s, the team includes freshman Nina McGranahan, sophomores Abigail Miller and Molly Moore, and junior Alyson Allen.

As the season winds to a close, championships approach. The women’s team seeks to emulate last year’s success by winning counties and regionals. As of October 21st, both men’s and women’s varsity have won their respective county championships. Based on the performances put forth this year by the men’s team, they are also set to win regionals. State competition is a whole different game, however.

Senior Timothy Crane said that he believes that “men’s would easily win counties and regionals.” They established that “they aimed for top 3,” though top 10 would seem well within reach, especially with the return of their star runner Edward Belsoi.

Senior Caroline Ahalt’s expectations for women’s remains the same; they expect nothing less than top 15 for states. Senior Nora Snyder said that “their training together has prepared them throughout the season for any competition.” Senior Celeste Corona said that in order to win states, they have to “go hard,” but she believes that they’ll do really well. With senior Delender McCants’ “Cross country comes first” mentality,  they swept counties, are bound to dominate at regional competition, and expect to perform amazingly at states.