Starting out every season with new athletes, it’s never a guarantee of how far the team will go. One of the coaches, Laura O’leary says she takes the team she’s given and “uses a particular program and individualizes it.” She also believes “Every sport no matter how different, will go far when a team comes together.”

     The boys’ team has had a strong season since the beginning. They beat all the teams they needed to in order get their fourth-place spot throughout the season. Senior Dylan Kapunstensky said he didn’t have any doubts for his team. 

     According to O’leary, in regionals they continued their streak and even gained an extra point, locking in their chance to move to states. 

     According to Sierra Weaver, a freshman,  the girls’ team is what took everyone by surprise. There were doubts due to their placement before regionals, they were in second to last place. They didn’t anticipate doing well and moving on. The girls put everything they had out there and succeeded. They finished in second place at regionals. 

     Both the boys’ and girls’ teams went to states together. The teams were preparing and were getting ready to take on states at Hereford high school on Saturday, November 9.

     Kapunstensky stated that preparing for states wasn’t much different than preparing for any other competition. States was held at Hereford High School. This course is known as Bull Run, one of the hardest courses on the east coast. It has what’s known as “the dip.”     

     “The dip” is a 70-yard huge incline and that athletes must run up and down twice, with lots of hills in between. The incline is so steep pillows and mats are put around the surrounding trees to protect those who wipe out while running it. 

     When states got closer, nerves and excitement were high. Those only amplified the day of the meet. Tori Gay, a senior on the team, said “right before I ran it, I was kind of freaked out because there was a ton of runners who were very serious about it.” The team knew it was going to be a difficult run.

     There were two Lady Hawks on the girls’ team who had never ran cross country before, and a few other teammates hadn’t been to states at all. Some “didn’t have a clue what they were getting into,” but were excited despite that, said Tori Gay, a senior.

     Weaver was pulled up to varsity, said “it was pretty awesome” having the experience but also being there as a whole cross country team representing North Harford. 

     Gay agreed.“It was pretty awesome to be the only team that went to states especially as a senior because you only get so many chances to do something like that.” Cross country was the only team during North Harford’s 2019 fall season to reach states. 

     The girls team finished in twelfth place, the boys in eighth. Will Tikiob finished in fifth overall. Out of every division that ran at states, Tikiob was 18th. All finished in the top 100.