With lightning speed, cross country season is back in full swing. The Don Lugo Cross Country team competed in their second meet of the season at Ayala Park this last Thursday, September 7th. Both the varsity and junior varsity teams engaged in competitive races but finished with impressive standings. 

Overall, Don Lugo placed an astonishing second in Mens three Mile Junior Varsity and third in Womens 3 Mile Junior Varsity. Despite being injured, Junior Karla Gonzalez placed first with a time of 22 minutes and 28.63 seconds in Womens three Mile Junior Varsity. Gonzalez states, “Now since I was injured, I was scared that I wasn’t going to do as well. But it turned out to be really good and my leg was only hurting a little bit so it was a really good meet.” 

Both women’s and men’s varsity teams placed an overall third in their three Mile Races. Senior Alexis Aguilar expressed, “We don’t put ourselves down. We expect to do what we can do and we run with the best of our abilities. So if we don’t do good, we won’t put ourselves down.”   

While some runners feel their individual performances could have been better, the team ensures they won’t take their scores too hard and will continue to work hard in order to improve for the rest of the season. Senior Varsity Co-Captain Naya Garcia commented, “I encourage my team by telling them that it’s a mental game.”

Garcia continued on, “I believe it can be our team’s best season, we have a good girls’ team and we finish pretty well.” One thing is for certain, cross country is here to impress and their dedication truly shows it.