Keeping the Pace...

By: Lauren Neal and Ellie Williams

This past week, we got to sit down with some of our Pottsboro Lady Cardinal cross country stars to run over their recent successes—some of which had never even been experienced by the senior girls of the team.

Starting in August, these girls had to wake up before dawn just about every single day and meet for practices—in the cold, the heat, the rain—anything that was thrown their way. And still they rose each day, shook off sleep, and ran again. Alongside these early-morning practices and multiple meets, the girls balanced other extracurricular activities, such as marching band, FCA, Sisters of Service, FCCLA, AP courses, dual-credit courses at Grayson College, and more. They also had a few road-blocks, as a couple members of the girls’ team were either rendered incapable of performing or transferred to another district; yet these outstanding athletes bonded together through all of it, pushing themselves past their limits and working harder than ever before.

The bond that these girls share with each other, and with the boys’ cross-country team, is one which will take all other athletic teams’ relationships a run for their money. It is incredibly apparent, even from sitting down with just a few of them for an interview, the love and admiration that they have for one another. According to Kate Poe, one of our resident senior runners, not only did they advance to regionals this year, but they barely missed making state. Instead of seeing this as a failure, all of the girls view it as an accomplishment and a tribute to their hard work and dedication from the past few months. The upperclassmen are confident in transferring the reigns to the younger members as they graduate, and are excited to root them on from behind the scenes in the upcoming years.

Pottsboro ISD is all about perseverance, community, and unlimited possibilities. These girls, and the things that they have achieved in the past year, are definitely the epitome of those characteristics.