Saturday morning, the Wildcat Cross Country team began their season by competing in the Green Hill Relays at Norbuck Park.

The Greenhill Relay meet is a unique cross country event.

The course is a 6-mile relay where each team has 4 runners who each complete 1 lap of the 1.5 mile course.

The course is a challenging one, with several significant elevation changes the racers must navigate.

To make it even more challenging, dozens of teams compete in the event, and the boys and girls teams all race together with a staggered start.

The race certainly qualifies as both confusing and entertaining for the average spectator. However, the kids really enjoy its uniqueness.

Widely considered a quality warm-up for many of the area’s top teams, Green Hill attracts a large field every year.

Along with the Wildcats, some of the top teams in the state competing in the event included Highland Park, Southlake Carroll, Mesquite Poteet and Plano West.

Considering the competition, the Wildcats had mixed results. The boys team finished 14th and the girls finished out of the top 20, but they did come away with a few positives.

“We ran well, all things considered,” said Head Coach Alonna Knott.

“We have a lot of work to do, but we’ll get there. It’s still early in the season, and we have some young runners who are just getting started, so we expect to see some real progress in the coming weeks.”

Team results not withstanding, the Wildcats had several runners whose performances stood out.

Junior Meron Fessahaie had the fastest split on the team, running the 1.5 course in 7:45.

LH Today caught up with Fessahaie after the race.

“I struggled a little bit towards the end after getting boxed in,” said Fessahaie. “I feel like I have more in me, so I see better races ahead."

"This was a pre-season meet for our team, so I think we did pretty well.”

Girls team senior Captains Grace Devaney and Michal Ann Starr both had great races as well. Devaney had the fastest split running a 10:20, and Starr ran a 10:47.

One freshman runner to keep your eye on is Sarah Shaw. Her split of 10:23 was the second fastest time on the team.

Michal Ann commented on the team’s performance.

“Not too bad for the first meet," Starr said. "We have a lot of new girls running this year, and this meet helped us to see where we all stand."

“This is my favorite meet of the year, and it was also a beautiful day to race.”

With the Green Hill Relays behind them, the Wildcat runners are off for Labor Day then head up to the McKinney Invitational on Septemeber 12th.

The following weekend, the 'Cats host the LH Invitational which will be run at Norbuck Park on September 19th.

Pictured below are senior Captains, Grace Devaney and Michal Ann Starr.