In late February 2022, Beth Arey was named the new girls cross country varsity head coach for the 2022-2023 season, and during her first year, Arey has already established a new culture of intensity.

“I think it’s been really great [with Coach Arey]. She’s been pushing us a lot harder and our workouts have been really intense, but I think it’s showing with everyone’s times [improving],” senior cross country runner Caroline Klearman shares. 

Arey isn’t the only new face on the team. This year, the top seven varsity lineup consistently includes two new runners, sophomore Sammy Schuneman and freshman Rory Malia.

“It’s a really young team … there’s way more underclassmen than upperclassmen,” Klearman notes. “I think it’s good for the future of the program [that the] majority of the runners are sophomores and freshmen.”

In fact, one of the team’s star athletes is a second-year varsity runner sophomore Stella Davis. On Saturday Oct. 1, Davis scored in fifth place at the Pat Savage Invitational, which counted as a large contribution towards the team’s overall second place standing. Schuneman and Malia also contributed to this ranking, as well as sophomore Fiona Vosper and senior Sophie Milner-Gorvine. 

This weekend, the team has their CSL Conference Invitational at Glenbrook North, and the following weekend, they have their regional meet at Wheeling. With a combination of new and experienced runners, the team looks forward to putting up a fierce competition.