On Nov. 6, OPRF cross country took on the state tournament, in both boys and girls events.

The most notable highlight at state was senior Josephine Welin. Welin ran a 16:26 three mile, taking the crown by three seconds.

“I was nervous going into the race, I really wanted to win. It’s the biggest race of the season, and winning proved all my hard work was worth it. I got out to a good start, I took the lead early and never looked back. Though they caught up as the race went on, I never gave up the lead and finished strong,” says Welin.

Welin placed first at conference, regionals, sectionals, and state. While this may seem like a dream season for her, it did not get off to a great start.

Over the summer, Welin suffered a stress fracture in her foot, sidelining her for the first few meets.

“Dealing with my foot injury was tough, I just really wanted to compete. But my teammates were always there for me… we exceeded expectations the whole year, and I think it was largely because of our great team chemistry and support system,” says Welin.

In the team event, the girls placed 15th in the state, but getting there was no easy feat.

“The race at sectionals was really close. We placed third, but right after the race was over, we had no idea if we made it or not,” Welin said. “This was one of my favorite moments of the year … Coach Raymond came over, told us to gather around, there was a pause then she threw her hands up in the air and yelled, “We’re going to state!”

The girls varsity team, consisting of Welin, sophomore Katie Stabb, junior Avery Minnis, senior Samantha Duwe, junior Anne Stine, sophomore Lenny Sterritt, and junior Natalie Quinn, had to battle through muddy, cold conditions at sectionals to get to state, but they pushed through.

The boys team ran into a tough sectional, finishing 10th. The teams that finished in the top three spots in the sectional, Sandburg, Downers Grove North, and Hinsdale Central, went on to place first, second, and third at state.

“Sectionals was in a way a mini state meet. It was good thing for our younger guys who will be coming back next season, they got some good experience from this race, and for our seniors that got a good sneak peek of the track season and college.” says head coach Chris Baldwin.

Though the boys team was not able to qualify for state, the Huskies were able to send junior Liam Newhart to state in the individual competition after he ran 15:58.39 at sectionals, placing 26th.

“Running at state is amazing and to have my best race of the season there was just a dream. I ran (one minute and two seconds) faster at state than I did in the first race of the year, which really shows how I improved throughout the season,” Newhart said. Newhart placed 45th in the boys 3A race with a time of 15:09.27.

“Going into the season we thought we could be a top 15 team in the state, and even though we didn’t make state (because) our sectional was so loaded, I think we met that goal,” says senior Lou DeLano. “Our top seven guys looked really different than what we thought they would be at the beginning of the season, which showed our improvement as a team.”