Bringing home trophies wasn’t applause enough for the Montgomery Catholic boys and girls cross country running teams. Both teams won the state championship this fall, and it was the first time that Montgomery Catholic had both boys and girls teams win at the same time. The cross country runners and their coaches, Ed Wright and Hollis Johnson, were invited to City Hall to be publicly recognized by Mayor Todd Strange before the city council meeting. One by one, the champions were called to the floor, congratulated, and given a certificate of recognition from the mayor.
The cross country team had put in long hours of intense training leading up to the state championship meet, and the results reflected their efforts. While previous Montgomery Catholic boys teams had won the state championship, it was the first time that the girls team had ever brought home the state trophy.
The boys were equally excited about their results, but it came as the result of hard work and persistence.
The Catholic girls were led by senior Amaris Tyynismaa. Crossing the finish line first at 17:44.21, Tyynismaa finished nearly a minute and a half ahead of the second place finisher, Catholic freshman Lily Bachl, who crossed the finish line at 19:04:41. Senior Isabelle Cochran finished strong at 19:44.87, securing fourth place overall. Teammates Grace Leslie, Ann Cobb, Katie Galvin, Chloe Smith, Virginia Speirs, Samantha Day, and Kathleen Madden all finished the race and took Montgomery Catholic girls to the top, crowning them as the state champions. Amaris Tyymismaa also took home her fifth consecutive individual champion title.
