Highlands Girls Varsity placed second overall in state finals while boys varsity place 6th. Over the weekend, the Birds took on state in Lexington at the Horse Park. The boys started the events early in the morning while the girls followed suit, both running a 5k (3.1 miles).

Highlands, for both boys and girls, is now the fastest AA cross country program by more than 9 seconds.

Varsity runner, Maggie Schroeder placed first overall in the girls AA Division race, and is now the fastest girl among any school in the state of Kentucky.

Maggie’s first year on varsity, was also her first year running. As she progresses in her running career, she is constantly working to build on her current personal record of 19:00.30 in her 5000 meter race at this year’s 2018 NKAC conference meet. However, she could’ve gotten a 18:58 if she hadn’t made the wrong turn.

For Schroeder, being a part of this team has allowed her to, “…push herself by encouraging her to be her best.” She is able to go to them if she needs advice, running related provisions, etc. She knows “there will always be someone there who will listen.”

As Maggie reflected on the weekend’s State meet, she considered the Birds to have performed very well. “Even though we didn’t end up winning state, I still felt everyone tried their hardest and ran to the best of their ability.”

When asked how she felt about her performance, Schroeder further expressed how even though individually she performed notably, she still would have “liked to have run under 19 minutes and not take the wrong turns.”

But being as these races aren’t usually over in a few minutes, Maggie has to constantly work on her pacing. Just as her performance proved persistent over the weekend, Schroeder has mastered the ability to both obtain and establish a constant, but also competitive, speed.

Overall, Maggie feels strongly about her time during the race (and season moreover) and is mostly excited to see how the Footlocker National Regionals meet at the end of the month goes.

Across the board, the girls and boys team started and ended the season in full force. While the cross-country season may be over, the track and field season is in full effect.