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“I feel like they’ve put a lot of hard work in and I think they will make it to the top,” said Ashlee Halopoff, junior at Granite.

Union had more than a fair amount of runners on their team, so there were unsettling nerves throughout some of Granite’s runners.

“We’re not used to seeing a cross country team with so many runners, so it was pretty intimidating. But we have a lot of good runners on our team, so I knew we would do well against them,” said senior cross country runner, Mario Madrigal.

Oscar Campos, another senior at Granite, placed first at the event.

"I was happy and surprised because I got first against Tulare Union. It was crazy, but I knew I had the advantage because it was our course and they weren't used to the hills like we are," says Campos.

Campos also commented on a fellow teammate’s performance.

"Angelica started off good and she knew how to pace herself, but at the end, a Tulare Union girl was stronger at running, beating Angelica decisively. But she finished off hard, sprinting the last 50 yards," said Campos.

The course was not placed at the regular starting point due to the freshman football game. Even so, Granite’s runners were determined to succeed.

"It was a little different starting off by the practice baseball field, but we still did really good because we knew how to pace ourselves going uphill. I don't think the other runners were used to the hill work of our course," said Madrigal.

According to Madrigal, Union had a lot of fast starters, as well as Robert F. Kennedy. But along the way, Granite was able to catch up to them.

"They couldn't keep up with us after we started to pass them up. Oscar came out with a win, and [sophomore] Jose Gonzalez came out third, and those really helped us with our win," said Madrigal.