Girls Cross Country season came to a close this past Saturday, November 17 at the CIF Southern Section Finals race in Riverside. Sophomore Collette Lowengrub was University’s only participant.
“CIF finals was a tough race because all the girls were going faster than they were at CIF prelims and all the races before that, but overall I was pretty happy with my results. This was definitely a good season,” Lowengrub said.
Overall, Lowengrub placed 29th out of 174 other runners with a time of 17:55.1, just faster than her previous time of 17:55.9 on the same course at CIF prelims. Despite not continuing on to State, a feat not accomplished by a female University Runner since runner Jania Emery in 2006, both Lowengrub and her teammates are proud of her accomplishments.
“Collette ran a really strong and fast race. She placed extremely high and ran the most important race of her life so far on a difficult course, and ran amazingly,” sophomore Brandon Kershaw, a runner for Boys Cross Country, said.
This past season has been an outstanding one for Lowengrub, who placed first in three of her races and advanced to be the tenth fastest female runner in University’s history. She also competed and placed high in several higher division races such as those that took place at the Dana Hills and Orange County Championships meets.
Coaches and runners alike look forward to next season, not only for Lowengrub but for the team as a whole.
“I am excited for the upcoming year for Cross Country. Not only is there already a lot of inspiration and a lot of really great team players, but I also feel like the family has gotten a lot stronger. Hopefully, it continues to do so,” junior Christina Liu said, who finished her third season of Cross Country with University this year.
Junior Ethan Jenkins, one of the Boys Cross Country captains, agrees with Liu.
“There were a lot of good times this season. We definitely had a stronger team this year then we have ever had since I’ve been here. I’ve just been proud of the work that people have been putting in,” Jenkins said.