By Adam Morris ’15 | Social Media Director

This past Saturday, Oct. 4,  the girls’ varsity cross country team placed second overall  in the Wayne County Championships at Willow Park behind Salem, with three runners placing high in the individual rankings.

There were 37 participating schools with 200 runners.

Megan Sklarski ‘15 placed seventh overall and achieved All-County honors with a time of 19:42, Kamryn Leonard ‘17 placed eleventh overall with a time of 19:53, and Mary Spencer ‘15 placed twelfth overall with a time of 19:55.

“I managed to run a 19:42, not my fastest time but it was windy, extremely cold, and the course had a giant hill,” Sklarski said.  “As soon as I crossed the finish line I looked behind me hoping to see my teammates, and I did!”

Sklarski first started cross country in ninth grade, starting on junior varsity for a couple of meets before eventually moving up to varsity.  She is being  recruited by numerous colleges and universities, most notably Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University.

“I also just got accepted to run at Grand Valley State University and when I went on an official visit they told me that they have a spot for me on the team,” Sklarski said.

Spencer ran track in middle school, but it was not very serious and she started doing cross country in ninth grade.

“Coach Zaranek meets with us the day before a meet and goes over the course, our goal times, and the strategy for the race,” Spencer said.  “He (Zaranek) makes sure we know exactly what is expected of us, which is very helpful.”

Practices consist of either harder workouts where the team goes to Balduck Park and runs the hill a bunch of times or speedwork on the streets.  The team’s distance days range anywhere from three to nine miles, Spencer said.

“I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to run with such amazing girls,” Leonard said.  “Being an underclassmen has helped me to push myself because I would never want to let any of my teammates down by not performing at my best.”

Leonard is ecstatic to be a part of such a great team and hopes to be honored as a team captain in the coming years, she said.

“My main goal for the next few years though is simply to continue to improve my times and be a good teammate,” Leonard said.  “I always want to try to put my best effort into all the practices in order to prepare myself for the difficult races.”

Sklarski thinks the team is doing great, despite losing some pretty amazing runners they are still placing very well in the meets, she said.

The team’s next big race is the MAC Championships on October 18th.