After a few seasons with disappointing finishes at the Nike Cross Southeast Regional, the Pine Crest ladies are headed to Oregon for Nike Cross Nationals the first time as a full team on December 7th.
Multi-time 2A state champ and NXN qualifier, Tsion Yared, lead her team with a fifth place finish this weekend at the southeast regional with a time of 17:37 on the WakeMed course.
She was followed by Emily Faulhaber (18:04), Maya Beleznay (18:28), Mahdere Yared (18:33), and Sierra Stocker (19:44) to round out their top five.
The Panthers have been preparing for this race not just all season, but for the past four years as these seniors have made it a goal to qualify for Nationals as one team.
Finishing with a consistent 18:29 team average and a 2:07 1-5 split, the Panthers ran the races they have been capable of all year and all things clicked for them to qualify.
Fellow 2A team rival, Bolles was the next Florida team finisher cruising through with an 8th place finish with Maxine Montoya leading the way with a new huge PR of 18:17.