Plagued by injuries and illness, the Kennedy Women’s Cross Country team still holds hope to make it to state for the second year in a row.

The women’s cross country team was ranked 11th last season but is not in the top 15 this year. Many runners have been unable to run for various reasons such as shin splints and knee problems. Cross country captain, Elizabeth Stone, is uncertain about the possibility of state. 

“We have a lot of injured people, and people have gotten sick recently. It will be very hard to make it (state), I think it will be a challenge, ” said Stone.

The team continues to work hard for the remainder of the season, hoping it will pay off and make state a definite possibility.

“I think we’re doing really well, like getting faster as a team and we do have a lot of fast runners. So I think that our hard work at practice really puts us at an advantage to the other teams… who just have natural talent” said cross country captain, Emily Fusselman, jr.

If they don’t make it to state, the team hopes to continue working hard and having fun.   

“Going to state would be awesome. For like everyone you know even if you don’t run because it’s just like really cool you get to cheer your team on.” said Stone.