The Dubs are traveling. No, not the football team; no, not the softball team; but the cross country team. They are running in a meet in North Carolina against other high school teams from across the country. They set off on September 19th for a meet the next day. This was no small task, the Dubs were up for a challenge and had high hopes for the weekend. The team was relying on Cabell Townsend and Arjun Mitra for the boys and Scottie Brown for the girls.
Travelling is a huge deal in high school sports. The cross country team is no stranger to traveling, but out of the state was a whole new thing this season. Cross country had not left the state as a team since 2022 when this year’s seniors were just tiny freshmen. This experience had the whole team excited and amped up for the early race making it easier to get ready for. “Looking forward to this meet made training easier and the pain even more worth it,” said Townsend.
The boys team was geared up for their early race, as they were the first ones to run. Out of all 38 teams, the boys finished 8th overall. Townsend finished first for North Atlanta and 23rd overall with the rest close behind. His effort gave North Atlanta the push they needed to finish inside the top 10 and make the trip even more worth it. Mitra, after coming off a hot start and being sick, still managed to run sub 17:30 and help the team along with junior Luke Simpson placing second for the boys. “The course was amazing and filled with people,” Mitra said. “This gave the entire team energy during the race.”
The girls were ready to show their talent after the feat that the boys just ran. They finished 18th for the race out of 31 teams. Brown was the lead finisher for the Dubs, finishing 29th in the race followed by a close Gwyneth Ferguson in 31st for the Dubs. These two strong finishers pushed the team into the top 20 and gave them a chance to finish in the top 15. “We have shown up this year and been extremely focused, it’s been cool to see it pay off,” said Brown.
The cross country team has started to find their stride and will be using this motivation to continue the season strong. The hopes are high for the team as they get ready for their trip to Jacksonville.
