It’s almost hard to believe that just a few months before state, that the cross country girls were sitting by the campfire and Maddie Stumpf’s girls team-bonding pool party and already talking about it. Most can recall on this event, and remember that their goals for the season were one of two things. Making friends, and or making it to state as a team. For the xc girls, they pridefully got to say the accomplished both.

“I was really excited about making it because the whole team made it. It was just really exciting,” says Hannah Rossman, who was one of the seven girls running. Rossman felt that the team was ready and that the girls worked very hard throughout the season and were prepared to compete.

State was a testament to all the hard work put in over the season. The girls varsity team had worked hard to keep their potential spot to state and it was a relief to know that they would go as a team.

On the day before state, 12 girls gathered by the bus with all their stuff prepared for a weekend of challenging competition, bumpy bus rides, and many memories. The night started off by drawing on the bus with window markers. “LHS state bound” was written in big bold letters for all to see. After a long bus ride to Jefferson City, the team started with a short pre-race run and then came back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

The next day the team arrived at the course and layed out the tarp, ready to practice for their race. The girls ran in the girls race in the 4th division for larger schools and all four divisions included 16 teams. Many races took place and runners from all over the state fought to be the best overall. Hundreds of people were also running around watching to see the runners, and cheer them on as they crossed the finish line.

At the beginning of the girl’s 4th division race, Liberty stood at the 16th spot, but by the end the girls had placed 12th overall. Freshman Ally Kruger took a spot at 8th place at the end of the race. Others running that day were: Abby Woods, Adrienne Rockette, Hannah Rossman, Lanni Guffey, Megan Venturella and Molly Morris.

“I think everyone did really good. It was a slow day, but everyone put in a lot of effort,” sophomore Livi Guffey said, who believes that the team was well prepared and belonged at the meet, but that running more in the off season could have better prepared the team in the long run. After a stressful and competitive day of running, the team went out for ice cream and then made it back home with one last final thought – the season may be over, but there is much to still be done for next season.