As the Cross Country regular season came to a close, the team continued to practice in preparation for the postseason. But they had one thing left to do: field a complete girls’ team. In order to allow the teams to participate in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) postseason, girls’ cross country had to recruit new female members–just before season’s end.

In cross country, team scoring works by adding up all the places of a team’s runners. If a team places 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, the ranks are added up, and they score 15 points. (1+2+3+4+5). The team with the lowest score wins.

A unit needs five members to score as a team. At the beginning of the season, Parker’s team had 7 boys and 2 girls. The team recruited 5 girls later in the season, including sophomore Bella Evan-Cook, juniors Grace Philip and Zoe Gardner, and seniors Lauren Goodman and Morgan Harler, none of whom had been on the cross country team. “We were short a few members before recruiting,” coach Martin Moran said, “so although we could compete as a team, we wouldn’t get scored as a team.”

Although this is the first time the team has recruited in this way, the lack of participants was not new. The cross country team has in recent years been understocked on the girls’ side, according to Moran. By contrast, the three other girls sports in the fall–field hockey, volleyball, and tennis–typically rake in many athletes. This year wasn’t different from past years, but Athletic Director Bobby Starks and Moran just decided to take a more active role in addressing the low participation level.

Moran has historically encouraged athletes in the spring to participate in the following cross country season.  He said, “In the past years we were only able to recruit one or two new female members.”  Until this year, Moran was unsure whether athletes could play two IHSA sports at once, but once he checked the rule book, he knew it was allowed.

The team placed 6th on the girls’ side at Regionals before advancing to Sectionals and placing 13th. Moran was impressed by Evan-Cook, Goodman, Harler, Philip, and Gardner. “They were great additions to the team and made it more fun for everyone,” Moran said. “I have to also hand it to Audrey Shadle and Will Polsky, who did a lot of the recruiting and really pushed to get our subs to come out.” The added girls on the roster boosted team camaraderie and allowed the team to run at the Regional and Sectional meets. According to Moran, the girls “helped our entire team feel better about competing and running at those meets.”