The Ponds Invitational, on September 5th, kicked off the season for the AMHS boys’ and girls’ cross country teams. On this temperate summer morning, the varsity girls team brought home the third place trophy. The team, featuring freshman Kate Kuisel (20:45), sophomore Annalise Hafner (20:46), sophomore Caroline Seymour (22:31), freshman Rachel Walmet (23:15), sophomore Caroline Keefer (23:41), sophomore Chloe Belton (25:09), and senior Emily McGee (26:05), made our school proud with their victory. Ninth grader Grace Fellows, the junior varsity underdog, was Magnet’s top JV girls’ runner with a time of 26:37.

The boys’ teams were equally impressive in both the varsity and JV races. The varsity team earned first place with five runners placing in the top 15, including senior Hayden DiBona (16:42), freshman Colin Baker (17:28), junior Melker Annas (18:05), freshman Lyle Johnson (18:12), and senior Kyle McGue (18:15). On the JV team, junior Aldo Moreno-Reyes (20:22) and senior Alex Cunningham (20:23) made the top 15.

A week later, on September 12th, the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams traveled to the Sandhills Research Center in Columbia, South Carolina to compete in the 2015 Coaches’ Classic. Academic Magnet’s varsity girls’ team triumphed, winning first place with the help of powerhouse Kate Kuisel, who placed 5th out of 315 with a time of 20:02, and Annalise Hafner in 9th place at 20:20. The team, comprised entirely of freshmen and sophomores, had an average time of 21:06. The varsity boys’ team also had some success; Hayden DiBona placed 5th out of 216 by running 16:02, a pace of 5:10/mile, and runner-up Colin Baker received 41st place with a time of 17:02.

Congratulations to our Raptor runners and good luck with the rest of the season!