On Saturday, September 21, 2019, the Midlothian Girls Cross Country team competed in the Adidas XC Challenge at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Historically, Midlo tends to race in high-intensity, highly competitive meets, and this race was no exception; the Adidas XC Challenge Championship meet, run on the traditional WakeMed course, boasted twenty-nine competitive teams and 255 runners, all with the same goal: bring home the championship. Facing five large hills, crowded trails, and fierce competition, the Midlo girls put everything on the line, resulting in unforgettable memories and hard-earned trophies.

At 9:35 am, the starting gun sounded, and Midlo’s Varsity Girls, Gabriella Garcia, Caroline Bowe, Annabel Schepker, Katherine Krievs, Nicole Quiram, Chloe Martin, and Lena Caffall, took off. Throughout the first mile, the girls raced through woods and up the first hill, and all of the girls came through the first mile in under seven minutes; this speedy start set up Midlo for a successful day. While the second mile brought difficult rolling hills, the third mile challenged the runners with a brutal half-mile hill that led to the finish line. 

As the race came to a close, sophomore Garcia came across the finish line in 13th place, having completed the 3.1 mile race in a mere 18:33; next came Bowe, only two seconds after Garcia, in 14th place. Schepker and Krievs used their speed to fight to the finish, placing 30th and 41st; both runners ran under twenty minutes. Quiram, a sophomore, fended off five competitors in a final sprint, finishing in 76th place; Martin completed the race in 112th place, running a respectable time of 20:56 for the 5K. Finally, Caffall crossed the line in 155th place, which perfectly completed the team of superstars. After the last Midlo girls finished, it became apparent that Midlo had finished in an incredible second place in the team competition and that Garcia and Bowe had placed in the top 25 individuals, earning medals.  

With the runners-up trophy and individual medals in hand, the Midlo girls left the Adidas Challenge bearing large grins and excited looks in their eyes as they plan for future competitions. Captain Caroline Bowe remarks, “It was so fun to be with my teammates on such an awesome course,” and looks to the future, commenting, “I believe that we are going to do big things this season.” Led by Head Coach Stan Morgan and Assistant Coach David Benjamin, these girls are surely going to make waves in the Virginia cross country scene this year. 

The Midlo Varsity Boys Cross Country team did not compete at the Adidas Challenge; they elected to compete in the RVA Relays race on September 21, alongside Midlo’s Junior Varsity runners. On Saturday, September 28, both teams plan to race at the VTCA Invitational at Pocahontas State Park.