Colette O'Leary is currently a senior and team leader of the Milton HS Girls XC team. The Milton Girls are currently the #1 team in the state and one of the top ranked teams in the Northeast Region. Over the next few weeks, Colette will share her journey and the ongoings of Milton XC with the greater Milesplit MA community. Enjoy! Colette's first journal entry can be found HERE
As we approached one of our favorite meets of the season, our Milton team was extremely excited to put down some fast times. Twilight is always a special race. The different atmosphere always makes this invite something to look forward to, and we had some big goals. Taking the team title was definitely something we had our eyes on, so when the gun went off we went for it, Finishing our top 5 in the top 20. We had some great performances in the varsity race, however we still had lots of room to improve, and had set higher goals for ourselves. As a team, we wanted to focus on closing time between each other, and will continue to work on that in upcoming meets. One of the factors that makes our team so strong is our ability to set high goals for ourselves and each other. So, while Twilight was by no means a disappointment, we are hungry for bigger things. In the JV race, our girls ran tough and put up some impressive times against great competition. Overall, we had a lot of fun racing under the lights and spending time with each other.
This weekend, we competed at the Bay State invite on one of the most difficult courses in the state. Racing this course before we return in November for All-States was a very valuable experience for us, because we will be looking to win the D2 race. Despite the cold, rainy morning, our team focused on the task in front of us. Our coach Tshaw made a point that the toughest girls would win. In order take the team title, we had to push aside the fact that it was hilly, wet, and cold. We were ready to handle anything the course would throw at us. As a result, we were able to win the meet with 32 points. Coming through with a strong team performance was really uplifting, we even accomplished many of our individual goals. In addition to running, it was impressive to see the competition in the other races. We can't wait to get the opportunity to go up against many of the great runners that tackled the course on Saturday. Looking ahead, our team will be working hard to prepare ourselves for Divisional's where we will look to defend our title from last year. Milton is "staying hungry", and excited to make this season a memorable one.
