Coming off their first meet victory in years, the Garfield Cross Country team has a shot at running the table this year in Metro King Co 4A. The team won their meets against Mercer Island, Ballard, and Inglemoor and looks to continue their streak with a likely victory coming up against Roosevelt and Ballard.

The organization of a cross country team is a bit confusing. Technically it is an individual sport, as each person tries to achieve a personal best at each race of five kilometers. However, there is also a girls team and a boys team. At each meet, the places from the races are all taken into account for each different gender and then added up to see which school has the lowest score. There are separate state divisions for boys and girls as well.

Both the boys and the girls squads are looking fast this year with good chances at state for each. Key players on the boys team include team captains Chris Wozniak, with a 5k time of 16:03, and Michael Cunetta, one second behind him at 16:04. After them, there are five players who run a 17:08 or under.

“Our success this season can be attributed to our depth,” said Cunetta. “We have a critical mass of kids who are all going to run sub-17 at Kingco and districts.”

As for the girls side, captain Anna Dailey runs a 18:26 and will most likely place among the top 20 at state. After her are Tamzin Atkins, freshmen phenom Kendall Jones, Isis Rush, and Kate Lemly who all finish at 21:41 or under and are on a direct path to districts, if not state.

After years of mediocrity, the Cross Country team is beginning to stand out as one of the rare Garfield sports that actually wins. This year, they may even win state, and the best part is that they are still improving.

“The program has completely turned around,” Cunetta said. “And we will be even better next year.”