Warming up for the highest stake race of the season, Oak Park Cross Country has made it to state, and all that matters is how their training will reflect in the race. The moment the team stepped onto the line, all their worries disappeared. It was time for them to trust their teammates and training. Senior Grant Jones led the way for the Eagles with a 10th-place individual finish. 

“It was a perfect way to end my high school cross-country career,” Jones said. “After four years of striving to be better, I think we truly did something special. The team has been extremely dynamic over the last four years and I think the constant willingness to adapt and change has allowed the team to succeed like they never have before.”

Jones was not the only athlete who competed at a spectacular level at the state race, Ethan Marley, Quinn Foster and Mark Hodges passed 38 racers in the last mile, landing them in the top 5. 

“Our coaches always tell us that we are a second-half team. So in the first mile of the race when people go out way too fast they drop back a lot which makes it easier to pass because we have trained ourselves to maintain the pace all season long,” Marley said. “We trained consistently and having a huge group of guys all at the same level made everyone push each other to do their best and work together for our success.” 

Impressively, reshman JJ Lew made a 15:55 time– the second fastest of the day. Stellar performances like Lew’s are what led the team to clinch second overall at the state meet. 

As for the girls team, sophomore Sophia Perez was the first Eagle to finish and placed 8th at state. 

“What pushed me to work hard this season was the motive of getting better and faster so I could help out the team as much as I could,” Perez said. “To improve as a team each and every girl showed up every day and put in the work.”

Tate Creason, Kat Modrzejewski, Tabi Brown and Samy Senthilnathan were five scorers who secured their spot at state, putting them on the Woodward Park podium. 

“Having a supportive team allowed not just for myself to succeed but for the entire team to be pushed toward resulting in our fifth-place finish at state,” Perez said. 

Marking school history, the boys’ team finishes the season as CIF Division III Champions, while the girls’ team finishes at an impressive third place in the CIF Finals. Without a doubt, this was one of the greatest cross-country seasons in Oak Park history, and a testament to their hard work and dedication to not just themselves, but their team.