Despite injuries and illnesses to the boys team, and a young and inexperienced girls team, the cross country teams are optimistic for the upcoming season.

The boys team placed third in the Sept. 7 Charles W. Woodward Relays even though junior Will Conway struggled due to an injury and senior captain Alex Kim was out due to illness. On Sept. 10 the boys placed placed third in the Magruder Invitational behind private schools Good Counsel and Gonzaga.

“We were able to beat out the other Montgomery County Public Schools [in the relays] because of the depth we have,” junior Zach Weinstein said. “In the Magruder Invitational, our whole top seven beat out QO and Sherwood’s [fifth-best] guys.”

Cross country head coach Scott Bettis understands that injuries and illness are an uncontrollable aspect of sports.

“Every team has kids that get sick,” Bettis said. “Injury wise, Conway had an ankle sprain, but he’s going to bounce back strong.”

Conway did just that at the Magruder Invitational, placing 21st overall in the Magruder Invitational out of 247 runners.

Along with Conway, four other CHS runners placed in the top 50: juniors Sushen Thiyagarajan, Luke Shannon and Zachary Weinstein, and senior captain Justin Rheingold.

On the other side of the spectrum, the girls team is looking good, despite graduating several key runners last year.

The girls placed 9th overall in the Magruder Invitational led by junior Charlotte Bourg, who placed 9th overall.

Despite all the adversity, this year’s cross country team looks to build upon their second place finish in states last year, and aims to take down county powerhouse and rival WJ, who placed first.