Since the middle of summer vacation, the Cross Country team has been hard at work preparing for this year’s season. With incoming freshmen, and new additions to the team, this season is bound to succeed.

“The girls’ cross country team is looking really awesome,” junior Maya Jaffe said. “Throughout summer training, we have been challenging ourselves to add on mileage and push the pace. We have really strong runners this year and are hoping to continue to improve as the season arrives.”

This year’s seniors are Ashton Carroll, Calvin Brown, Vinod Sardesai, Eric Frankel, Yena Chung, and Alfonso Sanchez. They are excited to lead the team and showcase all the hard work they have put into the cross country team throughout their time at Sage.

The team is also looking forward in having incoming senior Brooklyn Button be a part of the team. She is transferring to Sage this year and will be a great addition to the Cross Country team.

“She is an amazing runner and very friendly,” junior Alice Warden said. “She has been running for a long time and has a lot of experience with cross country, which will definitely help us. She will definitely be one of our fastest girls, if not the fastest.”

The cross country team is expecting great things from the incoming freshman as well.

“There were a lot of incoming freshman that came out to practice everyday during the summer who have great potential to becoming a varsity runner,” junior Kylen Patel said.

Though the team is excited to take on this year’s season they are sad that they will have to move on without Julia Lowe, who was on the team all of her four years of high school.

“Miller says that the time that Julia was here it was called the “Julia Era” because she had such an impact on the team,” Jaffe said.

“The team dynamic will definitely be different without her,” Warden said. “But I’m really looking forward to this season.”

With all the Cross Country team’s hard work and dedication they have been putting into training this summer, there is no doubt that they will have one of their most successful seasons yet.

“I think I am going to have a strong season and hopefully the best one I’ve had yet at sage!” Patel said.

The first academy league meet will take place on Sept. 19 at Cerritos Park East.