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As fall is fading into winter, fall sports are coming to an end. The training and hard work athletes put into their sports all come down to the last competitions. Cross country athletes ended their regular season with the Trans Valley League (TVL) Final Championships. 

This meet took place at Jacob Myers park in Riverbank on Nov. 27. The teams placed exceptionally well. Junior varsity girls and varsity boys took second place, while junior varsity boys and varsity girls took first place for the league. There were also three individual champions for Ripon High including Mallory Govia, Annie Wild, and Omar Alsaidi.  

“As a team we’ve been doing pretty well in the season as a whole. It was tough but we pushed through in this last race,” said Asia Rose, junior. 

The cross country team had been in the top of the TVL for all three of the times the league met. Having competition of high level increased the difficulty of the race, but the team pushed though to be in the top of the league. Working hard during training led to the great races against the other teams. 

“We packed really well, which led to the team’s success,” said Luke Bair, sophomore. 

Packing is an essential part of cross country. This is sticking together in one group as a team. Scoring is based on placement of individuals that are added together and the lowest scoring team wins. Packing helps with the overall total for the team because the goal is to get a low difference between the placement numbers. The Ripon team packed well to gain their placements. 

“I feel like I did well against the competition. It was definitely a good race. I saw many of our teammates come in the top five for their race,” stated James Wilkins, freshman.