The girls cross country team beat 16 other schools and won the state championship on Nov. 13.

The girls scored 70 total points, 14 less than the second place Northwest Jaguars.  Following a first place at regionals, junior Anna Ryba again took first place overall, running the course at Hereford High School in 19 minutes and 16 seconds.  Alexandra Phillips (5^th) and Caroline Guiot (7^th) finished less than a minute later to secure a spot in the top 10.

Caroline Elmendorf (19^th), Cara Bennet (38^th), Elizabeth Frank (40^th) and Laura Elmendorf (51^st) each had a strong showing, finishing within about a minute of each other to help hand the girls the title.

“It’s amazing and really the feeling hasn’t sunk it yet,” senior Danielle Newsham said.  “There really aren’t words for how proud I am and especially how disappointing last year went.  This really just is a surreal experience.”

This is the team’s first championship since 1992, when the Vikings edged out Walter Johnson for the 3A title.

The team will return six of their seven runners who ran in the state finals, which gives the girls a strong shot at going far next season.