SHA Dominates Trinity Valkyrie Invitational

On Saturday, Sept. 16 the Sacred Heart cross country team competed in the Trinity Valkyrie Invitational at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park. The Valkyries and Shamrocks hosted the meet to over 50 teams and competed in multiple races throughout the day.

The freshman race kicked off the morning with Lily Terrell leading the pack in 16th place and Leah Barton following behind in 32nd place. The freshmen took a fifth place finish for the Valkyries.

The Valkyries won the JV race with freshman Katelyn Cornett taking fourth place and sophomore Helene Senn placing 18th.

The varsity Valkyries endured the most challenging race of the day with 40 teams and over 300 runners competing. Senior Shelby Arnett led the Valkyries in 137th place, senior Kathryn Seay placed 141st, and senior Ann Preston placed 144th. Junior Kendall Knight, and seniors Alyssa Meiman and Maggie Mitchell also competed in the varsity race. The Valkyries finished in 23rd overall.

A strong top runner for the Valkyries, Kathryn Seay has high hopes for the remaining season.

“Our goals for the year are to keep improving our times and to mature as a team,” said Seay, “and to train well for regionals so we can qualify for state.”

The Valkyries recently developed new racing strategies for the season as well.

“We want to try and pack run and use one another as motivation to stay on pace during races,” Seay said. “We also want to work on controlling our pace in the beginning so we have extra energy to push harder in the last mile.”

The Valkyries’ next race takes place in Gainesville, Georgia at the Wingfoot Classic. To stay updated on SHA cross country, follow @SHARunning and @sacred_heart_sports on Twitter.