On Saturday, Sept. 7, all levels of cross country competed at the Titan Classic hosted by Papillion South. The girls JV and varsity teams took home third place, the boys JV placed second, and the varsity boys took first.

“We just did a really good job of running our own race and we were able to come out on top,” senior Tyler Boyle said. “But we’re hungry for more and we know you have to run the fastest in October not September.”

Things are lining up for the Southwest boys this season. Boyle feels the training coaches are implementing is setting the team up for success.

“I think our coaches are doing a really good job of managing training, and managing training loads and making sure we’re going to be peaking at the right time. So the fact that we’re able to run this fast already, and this fast compared to times last year I think we’re excited for what’s to come,” Boyle said.

The Southwest girls also placed against tough competition at the meet. They were able to keep spirits high which carried them to success.

“The East girls are pretty good, it was high competition, but I think we pulled through. We had a good attitude and we dominated,” junior Elsa Jonson said. 

This attitude has helped and will continue to help the team push each other during races. They run together in packs to be more successful against other teams.

“I started off the race really fast and I started to slow down, but then I found a bunch of people to pack up with, and I sped up so much. The effect of running with a bunch of other people who are pushing you is so good,” Jonson said.

The team’s next meet is Friday, Sept. 13, at Walnut Grove. The races begin at 3:45 pm.