The runners wait in deep anticipation for the referee to raise the red flag and fire the gun.. Nobody dares to make a sound. Then suddenly the first shot is fired. The race has officially begun. On Oct. 18, Huntley’s varsity cross country team attended the FVC conference meet at Emricson Park in Woodstock.

The first to run were the top seven varsity girls. Family and friends stand at the sidelines ready to cheer on their daughters and friends. The referee blows his whistle five minutes before the race begins to let everybody get in position. As all the girls get in their spots the referee begins to announce the starting rules.

After the referee raised the red flag and the gun was fired a swarm of the cross country runners dashed forward. Cheering from the crowd erupted shortly afterwards. As the racers continued forward parents and coaches rushed to catch up with them to give them moral support the whole way through. Bells were ringing; horns were blowing, loud whistles, and shouting everywhere. It was a wild event.

“Last year I was injured most of the season and when I can back towards the end to do this race I did not do as good as I wanted to” stated junior, Kelly Meakins, number 179, who was the first Huntley girl to finish with a time of 19.46 minutes at 17th place. Kelly then explains how the course was a bit difficult because “it’s a lot of rolling hills. It’s hard running hills when we practice by the corn field where there’s nothing there. It’s really difficult running hills”.

Up next were the varsity top seven boys. The same kind of madness that occurred while the girls were running happened with the boys.

Keagan Smith, number 82, was the first Huntley boy to finish with a time of 15.58 minutes at third place. The sophomore stated how happy he was with his placement in the race “It was around of what I was shooting for” said Smith. Smith found the course to be relatively difficult but this was his second time running at Emricson Park. There were many hills and obstacles along the way “you kind of know what to expect. Other times it was difficult” said Smith.