The Eagles cross country team travelled to Cutler Park in Visalia for the 5-kilometer Woodlake Invitational, Oct. 12. The meet was originally at Lake Kaweah, but was moved due to the government shutdown. Coach Ross Laird was out of town, so his wife Kathleen Laird and injured senior captain Tyler Laird acted as coach at the meet.

In the boys varsity race, junior Aaron DeWolf finished ahead of the other Eagles with a time of 19:21.45. Senior Daniel Moore followed at 20:06.09, and Michael Fu finished at 20:53.60.

Senior Aliciana Quintana ran in the girls varsity race, finishing with 25:57.01.

DeWolf noted that despite the change of location, the team ran well.

“The course changed because of the government shutdown, so none of us were familiar with the race at all,” DeWolf said. “Still, we ran hard and ran well. I think we are improving as a team.”

Despite the fact that he missed the meet himself, Coach Ross Laird was optimistic about the team’s times and effort.

“I was not able to make it to the invitational,” Laird said. “Based on the times, though, I think we are still making improvements. This team just keeps working hard in practice and getting faster in meets, and that’s all I can ask for as a coach.”

Quintana mentioned that although the course had some difficult parts, the team performed well.

“We ran pretty well,” Quintana said. “I didn’t like some parts of the course, though. We still ran hard, and hopefully we can keep on getting faster.”

The Eagles run next at Woodward Park in the Rough Rider Invitational, Oct. 18.

This author can be reached via Twitter: @m00re_is_better. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.