They are best friends who love to run. The Sunlake cross country girls came to practice everyday during the Summer, ready to put in the work. They were dedicated to their sport and their team, and by the time the season started, they were ready to race.
During their regular season meets, the girls had many victories. Their first race was the Claw Distance Classic. The girls swept all the top positions, winning 1-2-3-4-5. They scored the lowest score possible, a perfect 15. They went onto win the Kowboy XC Invitational and Hammock Invitational by huge margins. The Alexander/Asics Invitational in Georgia was their next stop. They were looking for a race with intense competition and a fast course, and the Alexander/Asics Invitational was just that. A lot of the girls raced really well against such steep competition, and they crushed their best times. They were ranked 2nd in the 4A state, and they were confident going into the state series.
The girls ran away with a huge win at Conference, as all of the top 5 girls placed in the top 10. It was the 6th year in a row that the girls were Conference Champions. At Districts, the girls squeaked by with a win, just barely beating Plant, the 2nd place team. The efforts of each one of the girls, including some strong finishing kicks, allowed them to win their District Championship. Going into Regionals, the girls had even more competition, but they knew they could win if they gave it their all. Surprisingly, they won Regionals by a greater margin than they had won Districts. This emphasized how much stronger they were getting as the season went on. 2023 was the first year in school history that the Sunlake girls won their Regional Championships, which was a big accomplishment for them. The team was faster than it had ever been, as for the first time in school history, all of the top 5 girls could run a sub 20 minute 5k.
At the State Championships, the girls were able to achieve what they had been striving for all season: making it on the podium. Their 2nd place finish was the highest placement the team has ever earned at States and one that will go down in history. Only the fastest 32 teams make it to the State Championships, so Sunlake had several fierce competitors they knew they had to stay ahead of. As they raced, Sunlake’s runners worked to beat as many as of their opponents as possible. Although Buchholz, the three time back to back state champion team, came away with the win, Sunlake gave them a run for their money. They were only 23 points behind Buchholz, and Sunlake finished with a faster team average. All and all, the girls were happy their season ended on such a high note, and were ready to place their shiny new State Runner Up trophy in the trophy case.
The top five consisted of senior Abigail Williams, freshman Katelin Wilcox, freshman Leah Foster, freshman Kaitlyn Zabrocki, and sophomore Kailyn Ford. Racing together as a pack with each teammate in sight, these girls pushed each other to success. Abigail was the team captain and she led her team at States, individually medaling with a 14th place individual finish and a time of 19:11. The freshmen were valuable additions that made all of the team’s achievements possible. Katelin placed 21st at states, was ranked 9th in the state for freshmen, and had an impressive seasons best time of 19:01. Leah and Kaitlyn were also extremely fast freshmen who never failed to put up good times. Kailyn was a dedicated teammate who raced through a foot injury to ensure her team could win championship races. The top 5 runners are the ones who score, so these girls were essential in every race.
