The women’s cross country teams run against many schools in the John Cleland Invite. Coach Ellington said he is proud of how far the girls have come in just a few weeks. (Source: carmelgreyhoundsxc)

The women’s cross-country team will compete at Brown County High School on Sept. 8. Mark Ellington, women’s cross country interim head coach, said he’s excited to fill in for this season and he hopes to use his past experiences as a cross-country coach to have a successful season with the girls.

“In the short term, I want them to achieve greatness for themselves,” he said. “It can’t be how good they are compared to someone else, but it has to be how good they are against themselves.”

Additionally, Angela Li, cross-country runner and sophomore, said along with bettering herself, she enjoys hanging out with her friends at practice.

“I like seeing my friends and talking to them when we run,” she said. “We do a lot of fun activities: we stretch together, we cool down together, and we say ‘good job’ to each other.”

Ellington said he shared Li’s view on the friendships made through cross country.

“I hope the girls grow together as friends, there’s a lot of good friendships that can come out of this,” he said. “Just make the high school experience better. (The high school) is such a big place and there’s so many people. When you find a little niche to get into, it can be a great experience when you get with people who feel the same way (about running).” By Asini Jayarapu