The high school cross country team ran in its second meet of the season at Rice on September 11, 2004.  The was by far the biggest meet of the year.  There were major colleges and universities, along with most public schools and private schools from Houston to College Station.  There were well over 100 runners in every race and in every division.  Northland, because of injuries and illnesses, only took 3 runners to this meet.  They all ran well.  Freshman J.C. McKim ran another strong race for the JV boys finishing with a time of 14:12.  Caroline Cubberly finished her second race of the season with a time of 20:16.  We had one newcomer to the team, freshman Jenna Russell.  In her first meet of the year, she finished with a time of 20:07.  Despite the conditions of the course and running on an extremely hot afternoon, Coach Stewart was proud of their efforts.  Next week, we should have 2 full teams running in the John Cooper Classic.

The cross country team ran at the John Cooper Classic on Saturday, September 18.  Genevieve Fontanier and Bryn Snyder both ran in the Varsity girls race which had 79 runners entered to run.  Genevieve finished 41st with a time of 15:13.  Bryn was close behind in 47th with a time of 15:30.  In a crazy week in which the team was unable to practice, both girls ran extremely hard.  J.C. McKim, as he has all year, ran well and finished at the front of the pack.  He crossed the line in 12th place with a time of 13:59.

Northland attended it's last regular season meet Saturday at Houston Christian.  With only 2 weeks left in the season, the Cougars are preparing for the District Meet on Thursday followed by the State Meet on Oct. 16th.  It was a cold, wet morning, but the conditions didn't bother Genevieve Fontanier.   She finished in 15th place out of 61 girls in the Varsity division.  Her time of 14:09 was the best of the season so far surpassing her previous best by more than a minute. 

The cross country team ran in the District 3-5A meet on Thursday at George Park in Richmond, TX.  Other teams present included Second Baptist, Concordia Lutheran, Ft. Bend Baptist, Lutheran South, Westbury Christian, Lutheran North and Houston Christian.  It was raining and the course was extremely muddy.  It was by far the worst running conditions of the year.  Northland took 6 girls and 1 boy to the meet.  Freshman J.C. McKim, who unfortunately is moving to Alaska, ran in his last race as a Northland cougar.  Up to this point, he has ran 2 miles in every race, which is the distance for JV races.  This race was set at 3 miles.  Despite the conditions, J.C. finished in 1st place with a record setting time of 21:41.  J.C. will be a big loss to Northland's team.  We wish him the best.  The girls finished in 6th place out of 9 teams.  Varsity teams are composed of the top 5 runners from each school.  Every other runner is automatically placed in the JV division.  Genevieve Fontanier brought home another medal placing 8th overall out of 45 girls with a time of 14:33.  Bryn Snyder finished 24th with a time of 16:25.  Jenna Russell finished 32nd with a time of 18:01.  Caroline Cubberly finished 38th with a time of 18:54 and Rachel Lanier finished 41st with a time of 21:54 on a badly swollen ankle.  In her first race of the year, freshman Megan Taylor brought home a medal finishing 2nd in the JV division with a time of 24:03.  We're looking forward to next week at State and we're planning on running our fastest times of the year.

In the final race of the season, Northland's cross country team came home with their heads held high running some of the fastest times of the year.  The Texas Farm Bureau, which is the site for the annual state race in Waco, is filled with hills and rugged terrain.  It's a great, but challenging course for the runners to compete on.  There were over 100 girls running in the 5A division Varsity girls race.  Senior Genevieve Fontanier ran her last race as a Northland cougar.  She finished 36th with a time of 14:40.  Although she was a few seconds off her fastest time of the year, she ran extremely hard and we're all very proud of her.  She'll be greatly missed.  Two of our freshman, Jenna Russell and Caroline Cubberly, finished the race breaking their personal best records.  Jenna finished 89th with a time of 17:42.  Caroline finished 93rd with a time of 17:51, 63 seconds faster than her previous best time.  One of our other freshman, Rachel Lanier, ran the entire race with a badly sprained ankle.  Even though she could barely walk on it, I was very proud of the way she competed and finished the race.  Northland's cross country team will be in great shape next year with these 3 freshman coming back.