Both Starr’s Mill cross country teams earned a place on the podium at AAAA State Championships in Carrollton, Georgia.
The girls finished runner-up, while the boys placed third overall.
Sophomore Kendra Ivaska led the girls team finishing the 3.1-mile race in 19 minutes and 45.22 seconds. She placed eighth overall. Ivaska’s pace was less than one minute behind first place finisher, junior Zahara Bernal from Pace Academy.
“I’m really looking forward to next season and building on what we’ve done as a team this year,” Ivaska said.
The girls finished second overall with 83 points. Pace Academy won the AAAA championship with 28 points. Out of all the 191 girls competing, all seven of the Starr’s Mill girls placed in the top 40.
“It was predicted the girls would finish third, maybe fourth, and our girls finished second,” head coach Kelly Rock said. “So it was really nice to be able to see all the work that they had done over the summer and throughout the season that ended [with a] second place finish.”
The boys team placed third overall with a total of 103 points. Joseph Jacquot, a senior at Westminster School, won the event with a time of 15 minutes and 30.89 seconds. The fastest runner from Starr’s Mill was Ramos who placed fifth overall with a time of 16 minutes and 27.39 seconds.
“I thought [my performance] was pretty good,” Ramos said. “It was a little surprising that I did so well, but I was really happy with it.”
Led by head coach Kelly Rock, the Starr’s Mill cross-country teams continue to flourish. Still, the team may face some hefty competition next year.
“We’re still 4A but we have some schools that are moving into our classification that are highly competitive,” Rock said.
The boys will be losing senior varsity runners Diego Ramos and Cannon McFall. The girls team will maintain a strong team, only losing one state runner, senior Kaylee McCoy.
“It’s kind of bittersweet because it was a good five years, but it’s on to the next thing,” Ramos said.