On Fri. Nov. 4, the Mater Dei Cross Country team participated in the Trinity League Finals.

This meet took place at Huntington Central Park in Huntington Beach, where the Monarchs raced against athletes from other Catholic Schools from all over Orange County. To kickstart the day, the girl’s JV team earned the title of Trinity League Champions. They also finished with 1-2-3, which means the first three girl’s to cross the finish line were Mater Dei runners.

Senior Sara Alfaro, came in first place, a great way to complete her final season of cross country.

“I have always had a passion for running and have been competitively running since I was 11- -years-old,” Alfaro said. “What I love most about running is the friendships I’ve made and the unexplainable feeling I get after a nice long distance run. Going into this race today, I knew it was going to be my last one so I really wanted to end this season with a bang.”

The other levels also had excellent races and several runners from Mater Dei received medals for finishing in the top 10 of their respective races. The Girl’s Varsity team came in third place, which rewarded them a spot to compete at CIF Pre-Lim’s. Mater Dei Team Captain, Kelly Wacker, led the girl’s varsity team and came in ninth place with teammate Claudia Stiglitz right at her heel in tenth place.

“My favorite part about running is probably challenging myself to do something that no one else likes to do. The girl’s varsity team has ran more than 700 miles this year which is so crazy to think about and makes me very proud. This race was definitely more challenging than previous ones this season. The other races all have been leading up to this,” said Stigliz. “Those are to practice competing, racing as a team, pushing yourself and staying mentally strong. The real test is league championships. There is way more pressure to perform because CIF is at stake. I trained so hard this season and really wanted it to pay off in today’s race.”

To finish off the day, the boy’s varsity team worked together and raced their hardest, but unfortunately were not able to qualify for CIF this year. The Wacker Family sure has great talent though because just like his sister, sophomore John Wacker was the lead runner for the boy’s varsity team. Greatness must run in the family.