The Lady Lancer Girls Cross Country team has had a highly successful first month of the 2014-15 season, with exceptional performances in every meet so far.

Despite the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s decision to switch to 5K (3.1 miles) races, the first meet Aug. 28 in Menomonee Falls was a 4K (2.5 miles) distance race, which ended with the team’s newest varsity runner, Abby Mauermann (‘18), on top with a time of 14:59. The meet was a Coach’s Invite, in which races are split by freshman/sophomore and junior/senior grade levels.

The BC team was excited to see the results of their newest runners, including Leah Neustedter (’18), Michelle Hirsch (’18), Ellie Kost (’18), Jessica Olson (’18), Andrea Grimaldo (’18), Mariam Khan (’18), Lauren Sorrel (’18), Samaaya Jayamaha (’18), and Katie Smith (’18). Other newcomers included Alexis Canitz (’17), Kathleen Wierzchowski (’17), and Emma Ossmann (’17). Megan Hlava, an accomplished senior, also came in as the first Lancer in the senior race, finishing with a time of 15:48.

The team also raced at the Homestead Highlander Invitational Sept. 5, another 4K race at Tennick Park in Saukville. Although this was a new course for the Lady Lancers, they ran just as well as any other meet. Out of 77 participants, all six of the Lancer varsity runners finished in the top 25 and received medals. Both varsity and junior varsity won their races, like Leah Neustedter (’18) finishing first for junior varsity with a time of 17:02.

The varsity team also took home a plaque Sept. 13 at the Rocket Invitational in Grant Park. While this was the team’s first 5K race, most of the girls claimed that the additional mileage was not difficult. The six varsity runners finished in the top 25, and, despite multiple girls not racing, the JV team still took first place. Alexis Canitz (’17), Michelle Hirsch (’18), and Te’alin Robinson (‘16) received medals for placing in the top 10. On the bus ride home, Coach Andy Arena said, “Everyone ran [personal records] today!”

The team ran a second 5K race Sept. 20 at the Angel Invitational at University of Wisconsin-Parkside.The varsity team won their meet by over 100 points, and junior varsity came in first against 296 other girls and over 30 teams. Congratulations went to Olivia Zweber (‘16) for taking first place overall in the JV race. The girls had a celebratory “food fest” on the hour-long bus ride home, during which members each brought snacks to share.

In addition to running, the cross country team took part in several team bonding activities throughout the season thus far. The team set a goal to raise $500 for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) sufferers after being nominated for the Ice Bucket Challenge. The girls donated $250 towards the cause when they did the challenge at their annual lakefront picnic Aug. 23 and achieved their goal after the successful car wash held Sept. 7 at the Brookfield Family Dentistry. The girls also regularly hosted “carbo crams” in preparation for races, which included FaceTiming recently graduated seniors Elizabeth Flatley (‘14) (University of California-Berkeley) and Paulina Agnello (‘14) (Concordia University) as well as dancing and intense consumption of food provided by the team members. The team decided to have a pancake breakfast Sept. 27 instead of a meet after a tough hill workout in Coach Jess’s neighborhood at 7 a.m.

The Lady Lancers also came in third for varsity and second for JV Oct. 4 at the Eagle Invitational at UW-Parkside. The Girls’ Cross Country won Conference, Oct. 19 and hopes to continue their success at the JV and Varsity Sectional meets, Oct. 24 and 26 for JV and varsity respectively.