By BROOKE BAXTER
Staff Writer 
Cross Country Boys and Girls raced successfully at the Woodbridge Invitational – delivering numerous personal records on Norco’s flat course – this past Friday, September 20.
The Boys Varsity team: Raja Batra, Adam Gish, Michael Blinstrub, Quinlan Tobin, Ryan Duffy, and Yaseen Sattar left all other runners in the dust as they each broke the sixteen-minute mark. 
“[At this meet] we showed that we have depth, and hopefully we can carry that momentum through the season.” Batra said.
Senior captain Raja Batra was the first to complete the course for University with a time of 15:39.6. 
When asked about the factors that attributed to his success, Batra said: “This is the last time running up at Norco for me.” Shaving about 25 seconds off his previous Norco time of 16:04 as a Junior, he credited his success in training this past summer as the factor that allowed him the correct mindset to race as well.
The Girls Varsity team consisted of Collette Lowengrub, Avery Klauke, Alissa Koplova, Sydney Field, Amberly Martinez, Vani Tankha, and Marta Meinardi.
Junior Captain Collette Lowengrub joined the team for her first race back after recovering from a stress fracture, placing fourth for Girl’s Varsity with an impressive 18:20.9. Senior Captain Avery Klauke broke into the 18-minute mark as well, running an 18:54.3.
Running CIF as a team seems to be a common goal and major motivator for these athletes. Field elaborated, explaining the importance of improvement “with each race [as] the team is relying on every one of us. I want to improve to help the team place, and hopefully move on to CIF again this year.”
Field also recognized the support of her friend and teammate, Martinez,  saying “Ambi [Martinez] is amazing and we push each other to run faster. I’m super thankful to have her running by my side.”
Both Cross Country teams will be competing in the Dana Hills Invitational, taking place at Dana Hills High School this Saturday, September 28.