The Notre Dame cross country teams have been very successful in recent meets. 

Cross country is a running event in which runners compete to complete a course over open or rough terrain. The courses used at these events may include grass, mud, woodlands, hills, flat ground and water. It is a popular participatory sport, and usually takes place during the autumn and winter. It is one of the sports which, along with track and field, road running, and race walking, makes up the sport of athletics.

Recently on October 14, 2021, the women’s cross country team placed first at the Santa Clarita Invitational. The Knights fought their way to victory because of their outstanding times. The girls had outstanding performances with times that exceeded our expectations: 

Greta Juelsson 18:17.50

Evelyn Baldwin 19:39.93

Gabriela Elder 20:26.31

Rocky Lample 20:43.86

Gabriela Elder 20:26.31

Triniti Santos 21:30.85

Audrey Benedict 22:38.62 

The team continued to place high amongst several individuals from other high schools. 

Greta Juelsson ‘23 placed 20th out of 705 runners in the Temecula TwilightRun on October 4th 2021, the freshman finished 9th in their division, and varsity finished 5th out of 66 teams and have set up a new ND record of being the “Top 20” for the XC three mile run. 

Cross country at Notre Dame is such an amazing program, filled with lots of opportunities and inclusiveness. Raquel Lample, a Sophomore on the women’s varsity cross country team says, “I’ve been doing XC (cross country) since Freshman year, so it is still very new to me and I still have a lot to learn. My favorite part of cross country is definitely the team aspect of it. Even though everyone runs their own race, the sense of community during practice and meets really gives me the motivation I need to try my best. If you’re looking for a positive environment, join cross country! I also like how cross country is almost all mental, and having a strong mind helps you in all aspects of life, not just XC. The ND cross country team has been doing an awesome job in our past league meets and invitationals. I’m really happy we came together as a team, came to and worked hard at practice consistently, and pushed each other during races. As finals approach, I hope NDXC can stay on its winning streak!” 

The men’s cross country team is also doing their fair share of winning meets. 

The boys, who competed in the Temecula Twilight Meet, crushed it. Students such as Calvin Benedict ‘22 and Gavin Whetstone ‘23 have beaten their own personal records and have set high standards for the underclassmen to follow. 

Calvin Benedict 15:16.5 PR 

Nicholas Cutidioc 16:35.7

Tyler Boim 17:09.5 

Nolan Reber 17:12.9 

Gavin Whetstone 17:42.5 PR 

Jackson Krischer 18:14.6 

Ethan Day 18:45.8 

Ryan Antaky 18:37.3 PR 

Nicholas Antaky 19:05.3 

Anthony Almaraz 19:08.4 PR 

Logan Grant 20:00.8 

Leo Wexler 20:01.0 PR 

Aidan Endoso 21:54.8 PR 

Senior, Nolan Reber said, “I’ve been on Varsity XC for 4 years now. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine, but we’ve run hundreds of miles and dozens of races. My favorite part of the sport is definitely my teammates that endure this sport with me. I love running, but if it wasn’t for my downright awesome team, I would have left a while ago. I’m very proud of the team for their success, especially Calvin Benedict who broke the school record [for the 3 mile run]. Cross Country is a great sport since I’m able to watch my friends improve over time and see how proud of themselves they are. I wouldn’t trade this sport for the world, it’s full of friends and self improvement.” 

It has been a good season for the women’s and men’s cross country teams, and we hope to see this kind of success next year!