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A well-known sight to the Academy girls’ competitors.
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Anna Hastings ’26 fights for her position.
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Addie Siembieda ’24 and Ava Stein ’25 in motion.
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Anna Hastings ’26 looking cool as a cucumber on the course.
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Who runs the world? Our girls.
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One of XC’s coaches, Tomas Atencio-Pacheco, cheers on Grace Morneau ’27.
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Emma Michael 27′ and Addison Julian ’26 lead the pack.
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Addison Julian ’26 crosses the finish line.
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Delaney Wagner ’27 makes a move in the final stretch.
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One sport you’re probably not hearing about enough is girls cross country. I know, it’s just running, but this season the Academy team is undefeated after our first six meets. We continued this streak at the Albuquerque Metro Championships last weekend where we finished first, with all seven runners placing in the top 20.
At our first meet of the season, the Cleveland Invite, the Academy girls beat Los Alamos, our rivals, by only six points. We continued the next week, winning the Chile Quad, a small home meet with only four teams: Academy, St. Pius, Zuni, and East Mountain. Academy won, yet again, the following week at the UNM Cross Country Invitational by a lead of 36 points. After a week off from racing, the Chargers traveled to Zuni Pueblo where we competed on a sandy, hilly course in the Zuni Bread Run, where the top 15 runners from each race won a loaf of handmade friendship bread. And finally, on September 29, the team headed to Bullhead Park for the APS Invitational where we took another title.
So what comes next for this undefeated team? We have a week off from racing (but certainly still full of running) and then on Saturday, October 21, we have the largest meet of our season at the Academy Extravaganza. With over 100 teams invited and divided into divisions A-5A, it’s sure to be a day full of competitive racing. Since it’s at home it is the perfect meet to come out and support. Varsity boys run at 2:00 p.m. and varsity girls will run at 2:40 p.m.
After that is the Los Alamos invite on Friday, October 27. The week after, the Academy will compete in our district meet against Hope Christian, Bernalillo, Del Norte, and Valley to qualify for the state championships on Saturday, November 11. Hosted on Academy’s home course, the varsity girls will face Los Alamos who have won the title for four straight years.
Whether or not you like to run, be sure to come out and support the team as the season winds down. If this undefeated streak keeps up, there could surely be a state title in our future.
