Cross country ranks in state competition

With two races left, the girls’ cross country team is on its way to the CIF championship.

Six races in, the cross-country team has been successful enough to rank among the top 10 teams in state.

The Oak Park team has ranked 10th in state and fourth in the Southern California section. With about 40 freshmen joining cross-country this year, the teams have about 130 runners this season. At the meets this year, Oak Park’s entire overall ranking was in the top 10.

Sophomore Sylvia Cruz-Albrecht runs on the track during cross country practice. The cross country team is ranked tenth in the state and fourth in southern California (Olivia Fagnani/Talon).
Sophomore Sylvia Cruz-Albrecht runs on the track during cross country practice. The cross country team is ranked tenth in the state and fourth in southern California (Olivia Fagnani/Talon).

Ranking first in her division for almost every race this season, sophomore runner Sylvia Cruz-Albrecht said that the team has been really successful this year, especially at the Clovis Invitational in Fresno.

“Overall our team did really well [at Clovis]. Our frosh/soph girls got fourth place and our varsity [girls] team got seventh place, and JV [girls] got third … so our team did really well, and it was an amazing bonding experience,” Cruz-Albrecht said.

Cruz-Albrecht mentioned that at Clovis, Oak Park even got a shout-out.

“I think when we were at the starting round, they actually mentioned that Oak Park is 10th in the state and fourth in the southern section of California,” Cruz-Albrecht said.

I think we [have been doing] pretty good. Our team scores have been good, and we’ve been coming in [on] the top.

— Solei Burgess

There have been some changes made to the way things work on the cross-country team, including a new coaching system.

“Now we have Coach White, who’s running the program. It’s slightly different, the workouts are a little bit different, but overall, it’s the same family, meets, races … One thing is that we don’t know the workouts beforehand anymore, so we just come to practice not knowing what to expect, just ready to run and whatever he throws at us … it’s been working,” Cruz-Albrecht said.

Freshman runner Solei Burgess agrees with Cruz-Albrecht; she said the team has been doing well this year.

“I think we [have been doing] pretty good,” Burgess said. “Our team scores have been good, and we’ve been coming in [on] the top.”