Boys and girls cross country teams will compete at the Canyon Invitational Meet Saturday, Sept. 29.

The teams are preparing for district, set two weeks after the invitational. Senior Caitlynne Speegle said after a difficult week of workouts, she is prepared to push through the most difficult races.

“So far the season has been going really well,” Speegle said. “We started off the season going to Mansfield, and our girls won. Ever since then we’ve won every meet. Our times seem to keep getting better and better. The season is going perfectly if you could say a season could be perfect as of right now.”

Speegle will run a 5k, which differs from her usual run of two miles.

“It’s going to be a little bit different than what we’ll compete at for district then regionals and state,” Speegle said. “Two miles is shorter, but you have to have that strength going into the second mile that we can find in a 5k. This weekend we’re working on getting that strength so we can finish well, as well as getting a better workout and getting ourselves in shape.”

Sophomore Samuel Ashley said he hopes to place well for his team along with winning first as a team.

“I believe we will be good,” Ashley said. “I think our team is ready. We are a crazy bunch, but we have lots of fun.”

Amarillo High, Randall and Tascosa are among the 70 plus teams competing at the invitational.

“It’s going to be a pretty tough competition,” Ashley said. “We’re racing against all these other schools. I’m looking forward to it.”

Following the invitational meet, next week Canyon and Randall have a dual meet, where the schools will race head-to-head.

“Randall has had an indomitable cross country for the past five years, so we want to see how we measure up to them before we head into the more serious regionals and state,” Speegle said. “Randall is a good stepping stone for us. If we can beat Randall, that means we’re good as a team.”

Speegle said while cross country is not for everybody, everybody should have the chance to try it.

“Cross country seems hard, but it’s worth everything you do,” Speegle said. “It’s more fun than you think. You see us out running miles and miles and you hear about the workouts we do and you’re like ‘gosh that would be horrible’ but it’s worth it.”