Houston Episcopal girls interview with MileSplit after their win at the 2021 Region III Preview at Sam Houston State University
The ultimate goal in athletics is to improve and hopefully win. That is becoming an expectation for the girls on the Houston Episcopal girls cross country team. They've won a couple of races this season and they want to keep adding to that win total.
This past weekend, they won the Region III Preview and they did that without their number one runner Kat Kwiatkowski. Minus the presence of the 17:50 SPC leader for the 2021 cross country season, the Lady Knights still moved forward and dropped a gem team race.
Leading in the win was freshman Madison Morgan who won the varsity girls race in 19:22; also providing aid in the front was sophomore Julia Newman with a runner-up finish in the race in 19:37.
As the team showed they are more than just Kwiatkowski, they also exhibited how solid the entire team is by placing the rest of their top five in the overall top 10 of the race. Finishing with a 20:07 team average and 1:25 split, Episcopal their depth and talent as a team on the state level and not just when it comes to competing in the SPC, but also against the UIL as they have been exhibiting this season.
The Episcopal girls now look forward to the Hoka One One/McNeil Invitational with their sights on another win in a predominantly UIL laden field. This team confidence is attributed to the bond of the team; a bond that Newman describes, "the team atmosphere is awesome, it's awesome coming out to meets every weekend." Senior Ella Newman added, "we all really support each other and we are a really good team."
This Episcopal team could have discovered a new identity this weekend by racing without Kwiatkowski and still ending in victory. It leads one to wonder how much better are they going to continue to get as they add their top runner back into the mix.
This might not be the end of winning this season for them as their two main goals are to win the SPC Conference Cross Country Championships and then qualify for the Team Nationals in Oregon.