City High girls cross country teams traveled to Kalona on Tuesday to run at Iowa Mennonite School for the first race of the season. The Varsity team got third place losing to Jefferson and Muscatine, while Junior Varsity came in second to Muscatine. The team did not race their top seven varsity runners.

“It’s just a decision that the coaching staff has made to let the girls do some training and give some other girls an opportunity to step up and run varsity,” said Ryan Ahlers, assistant coach. “They have earned that chance and they are going to do really well.”

The IMS meet was the first 5k race that the varsity runners had run. Team captain Hailey Verdick ‘16 thought the transition went well, but it definitely wasn’t a jog in the park.

“I think it is something we will have to adjust to but I don’t think it’s anything that’s going to drag us down,” she said.

None-the-less, when asked about the general vibe of the team despite the work the team does 6 days a week for an average of two hours. Ahlers was confident that the team kept a positive outlook. Even after a bad day at school.

“They do so many things besides just running to help build that team atmosphere. If I ever had a rough day at school and I come to practice, my mentality changes to positivity right away because I see the girls, I see they’re smiles on their faces, and how much they enjoy doing it.”