The Wakefield Cross Country team’s running times have been improving all season. They are gearing up for this year’s Liberty District Championship which is only one week away. Liberty District is the most important meet in which Cross Country competes this season. It tells the team who qualifies for Regionals.

In Cross Country, the scoring system is different from any other sport. The top five runners for each team score the points for the team total; and the team that scores the least amount of points wins their race. Coach Sharp said he, “is optimistic that Wakefield will have runners qualify for the Northern VA Regional Cross Country meet.”

Wakefield finished last in both the boys and girls races a year ago, but this year should be vastly different. The Wakefield Boys Track & Field team won the Outdoor Track Liberty District Championship in the spring for the first time in school history and the girls team won 2nd place at the Outdoor Track Liberty District Championship. With these results, expectations are higher than ever for the Cross Country team.

Over the summer, the Cross Country team trained hard. Connor Moore ‘25 joined the team this year and said, “ I love the energy from meets and the vibe of the team.” London Anderson ‘27 said, “this training has made me a better runner and my times are improving because of this.” Girl’s team Captain Addy Young ‘24 said, “I have lots of confidence in the girls team’s ability to advance.” She has observed the young talent new to the team and has felt that the scoring runners are closer together at the finish than last year, which is of course great for everyone.

At the Liberty District Jamboree, which is a pre-district race, many of the Wakefield runners ran personal bests. Ian Maguire ‘26 even ran 80 seconds faster than his previous record. Andrew Coe ‘26 (me) shaved 46 seconds off my personal best, and Clara Crawford ‘24 did the same. Corinne Breyault ‘25 ran a 40 second personal record, and Quincy Daigle ‘25 had a similar personal best and placed 4th at the meet and first for Wakefield. 

Wakefield is on track to place well in the Liberty District meet.