The Glenbard South Girls cross country team is off and running into their 2022 season with a strong start at the Morris Early Bird Invitational. There were a few worries due to an array of injuries throughout the team, but the healthy girls led the team into a successful first race. In the varsity race, Junior Lauren Price led the pack, placing 15th out of over 100 other runners, and multiple other girls earned meet personal records. The JV race had four debut cross country runners and were led by sophomore Lexi Izaguirre, who placed 15th and earned a medal in the first cross country race of her career.

The girls were thrilled to have such a successful opening meet, especially after a few qualms in the beginning of the season, specifically the lack of any incoming freshman joining the team. Senior Maggie Riley said “Recruiting has always been a struggle, due to most peoples instant distaste for running. It’s hard to convince people to join a sport when they aren’t immediately interested in the sport itself.” But cross country is a lot more than running. The friendships and tightness of the team makes the sport what it is, and the running is secondary. The long Saturday meets, weekly pasta parties, and sister bags, where everybody on the team gets someone else a snack and motivating note for each meet, are just some of the things that the team does to connect throughout the season. Riley added, “Running is definitely not my favorite thing in the world, but the people I met and friendships I made from it make it worth it.”

The team’s next race is in the First to The Finish Invite in Peoria. This is the biggest meet of their season with over 300 girls running in the varsity race. To stay updated on the team, you can visit raiderxctf.com for weekly newsletters about the previous meet, or follow them on Instagram @gbs_girlsxc.

Gallery • 2 Photos

The team poses for a picture after the Morris Early Bird Invitational Meet