The cross country team sent 11 runners to state on Oct. 27. Rebecca Wright, sophomore, placed 20th overall and the highest on the Paola team.
Sarah Rourke, senior, said she loved watching everyone get better, reach their goals and encourage others to do their best.
“I just wanted to be a good example and make it through all the workouts,” Rourke said.
For Lauren Frederick, junior, the most exciting moment of the year was winning regionals for the third year in a row. Frederick said they can always improve and she hopes to do even better next year.
For the boys’ team, Lane Harris, senior, also went to state and placed 28th. The boys’ team placed fifth in regionals on Oct. 20 at Garnett.
Coach Karl Schmidt said he wished he would have done better at setting goals for each individual instead of the group and been a better motivator.
“The team grew closer together as a unit and continued to encourage and motivate each other,” said Schmidt, “but we reached our potential and it’s unlikely that we could’ve made better strides. There’s always room for improvement”.