The girls cross country team ran away with the championship title at the Ken Garland/Northwest Invitational Meet in Denton, Texas, Sept. 16. The eight Canyon girls shot out at the gun to take away their third championship title of the season.  

The team has two meets left before district begins, including this Saturday’s meet at Canyon High School, where the girls race at 8:15 and 10:15 a.m. The boys teams will run at 8:45 and 9:45 a.m.

“It definitely was good for us as a team because we all pushed each other, and we pushed ourselves past limits we didn’t know we could,” junior Brantley Bristow said.

Bristow said the bonding experiences and relationships within the team have boosted their confidence.

“It makes us stronger,” Bristow said. “Whenever we’re all working towards one goal, it is easier to encourage our teammates because we care for them to do just as well as ourselves.”

Sophomore Kameron Diaz said being on a strong team helps their overall race and workouts.

“Whenever we’re running, we keep pushing each other, and we stay positive,” Diaz said. “It makes our attitude better and keeps our encouragement within the team.”

Bristow said the preparation and pre-meet play an important role in a race.

“Each of us know what we need to do in order to race well,” Bristow said. “It is more than just running.  It’s about your start, warm up, and what you eat for breakfast, and I think all of those things came into play at the Denton meet.”

As the team approaches the district meet, the girls expect to prepare for a meet like Denton. Diaz said the confidence gained winning the Denton meet will continue to push the team toward their future goals.

“I feel like whenever we won, it gave us motivation that we could win against challenging teams,” Diaz said.

Bristow said the results of the meet can benefit their upcoming goals.

“At the state meet or any other meet, we will have that confidence because we will be able to reflect back to the Denton meet or Burkburnett when we did really well,” Bristow said. “We will have that confidence going into it because we know we’re able to perform that way.”