“[The team] worked hard all season, and I want them to have a good feeling and a good outcome at the end of the day,” cross country coach Chris Kesterson said.

The cross country season ended strong with the girls placing sixth, and boys placing ninth. On Nov. 7, the Starr’s Mill cross country team went to the Georgia High School Association State Cross Country Championship in Carrollton, Ga.

Sophomore Mary Vali placed first on the girls’ team. She placed sixth overall at the state meet, with a time of 20:43.23 on the 5,000 meter race. Vali also won the All Metro Cross Country award by doing well at state, and being voted for by the coaches in Metro Atlanta. “I felt accomplished and rewarded to win an achievement outside of school for something that I love,” said Vali.

Senior Sophia Handel placed second on the girls team with a time of 21:17.52 and  13th overall. “I was super excited because ever since I was a freshmen we’ve been talking about our senior year,” Handel said. “Out of the seven of the girls on the varsity squad, five were seniors, and it was amazing to run with my best friends.”

Turnier placed sixth on the team with a time of 23:54. “Running at state was emotional and exciting,” Turnier said. “As a senior, it was my last race along with four other girls of the seven that ran. Because it was my last race, it gave me a huge incentive to run a great race. It’s also exciting because you are running against the best girls in the state, and so many people are there cheering you on.”

Some of the other runners including senior Abigail Dickinson who placed third on the team with a time of 22:47, and 48th overall, and senior Phinney who placed fourth on her team with a time of 23:35, and 76th overall.  Runner senior Hannah Fertig who placed seventh on the Panther’s girls team with a time of 23:57, and 91st overall. The girls team’s freshman Hikari Ikeda who placed fifth with a time of 23:49, and 83rd overall.

As for the boys side, they brought two freshmen into the spotlight on a team of usually only upperclassmen. Freshman Nick Nyman placed first for the boys’ team and 43rd overall with a time of 18:17.63. And freshmen Harrison Fultz was right behind him, coming in at a time of 18:25:53, second on the team and 47th in the state.

Junior Joshua Tysor was third and ran a time of 18:29.81, placing 51st. “It was a pretty hard race because it had rained a lot prior to the race, but overall we did pretty well. As a team we finished in the top 10, ninth for the boys. It was pretty exciting to see how well the freshmen did,” Tysor said.

After the meet, Tysor achieved the award of athlete of the week at Starr’s Mill. “I was pretty excited. I wasn’t expecting it, but I was glad that I achieved that accomplishment from the school.”

The other boy runners include all seniors, Nicholas Bryant who placed fourth on the boys with a time of 18:41 and placed 57th overall, and junior Connor Donahue who placed fifth on the boys with a time of 19:13 and placed 106th overall. Dearman placed sixth on the team with a time of 19:19 and placed 116th overall. Another runner senior Reed Livingston placed seventh on the boys and ran a time of 19:41 and placed 136th overall.

Assessing the team’s performance, Coach Kesterson not only reflects upon the state meet but the entire season beginning in September. “The biggest thing is that they all showed improvement from the first meet we ran in September at Carrollton,” Kesteron said.