Gallery • 11 Photos

On August 31, 2022, the Concord Yellowjackets had their successful first home meet of the season, with the boys’ team running first. Concord held strong with Adair Artis placing fourth for the boys’ team, running an 18:00.26, followed by Isaac Waldron placing 12th, Maddox Hutchinson crossing the line in 30th, and Lleyton Bauman just three positions behind. Next to cross the finish line was Connor Stevens in 42nd, Cole Bates followed closely behind finishing 45th, and Ashton Easterwood crossed the line in 56th out of 72. These assiduous runners were able to secure fifth place with a score of 117.

Adair Artis was both exhausted and exhilarated about placing first in the team and fourth overall, afterward, he shared his thoughts about how his teammates motivated him to a great finish. “We’re a family as a team, we like to push each other to be our best, and to see how good we can get by working together… we had a lot of great effort, even though it’s very warm outside, we had great effort overall, and I really like that about the team.”

Next up, the girls’ team ran a great race with Cece Barrett being the first to finish on the team, crossing the line in 9th at 22:14, and Riley Adams was next to cross the line in 33rd. Hannah Stimer crosses the line in 37th, followed shortly after by Julia Stevens in 39th. Caitlin Wright was able to sprint her way to 55th after a very close race with an opponent, defeating them by just a fraction of a second. Maria Stevens finished shortly after, placing 57th, and then Paige Morris finished 60th out of 64. Through all of this hard work, the girls’ team was able to secure 6th place with a score of 166.

Cece Barrett and Riley Adams both commented on their first home race, with Riley saying “We all worked hard, where a couple of girls had goals to not walk, and they completed their goals… we’re going to get a trophy this year.” When I asked Cierra about the race, she responded, “It was really hot out, and it was miserable. [We] could’ve been better, but overall we did really good.” 

With both Cross Country teams’ confidence and motivation to win big this season, it seems like Concord is on their way to win big this year and bring that trophy home.