GU Middle School Cross Country Closes Season With Personal Bests and Champs Victory

Our Grant Union High School middle school cross country team celebrated personal bests and a Champs race victory across two season-ending meets, beginning with our home meet Thursday, Oct. 22. Both races covered 3 kilometers, a distance our runners look forward to taking on each season.

Changing leaves, rain and chilly conditions made our home course a slippery challenge as we welcomed other teams and raced in front of our home crowd. Azalea Gabbard led our girls with a personal record and an eighth-place finish. Annabelle Raschio followed with a season-best performance, and Nox Long rounded out the group with a strong finish.

Our boys worked together through those conditions, with Sam Bailey finishing fifth and Blaine James taking sixth. Ezra Randleas, Oliver LaGramboise and Devid Archibald completed our lineup. The home meet gave our runners a chance to compete on familiar ground before heading into the final race of the season.

Cool temperatures and sunshine greeted our team for the Champs race. Bailey took first place in 11:36.7, finishing within two seconds of a personal best. James placed fifth with a personal-best time of 12:08. Randleas, LaGramboise and Archibald completed the boys lineup, helping our team secure second place in the team standings for their race.

Our girls also finished the season by setting new marks. Gabbard led the group with another personal-best time, improving again after the record-setting home performance. Long followed with an all-time personal best of their own in the season finale.