The Girls Cross-Country team earned a hard-fought win at the NJAC Championships on Tuesday, Oct. 14. This was the team’s first championship win since 2017.

NJAC scoring relies on the whole team. Top runners who helped seal the win included senior captain Lilah Willis with a sixth-place finish; sophomore Jullianna Young in 10^th ; sophomore Samantha Cerulo in 13^th; freshman Grace Carey in 15^th and junior Jaidyn Young in 21^st.

Rounding out the varsity scoring were sophomore Anjali George, who finished 40^th, and senior Liliana Colasante, who was right behind in 43^rd. Together, these runners pushed Randolph ahead of the competitive Mendham team for the Rams victory.

“We’ve been putting together some phenomenal weeks of training since mid-July, and now that we’re heading into championship season, it’s inspiring to look back and see how far we’ve come,” Willis said.

Young also reflected on the team’s growth. “This year, our amazing coaches really built on what we learned last season and pushed us to take things up a level.”

“We’ve grown a lot as a team and really learned to appreciate each other, our coaches and all the work we’ve put in, so we couldn’t be more excited to toe the line together,” Willis added.

Earlier this season, the girls team set ambitious goals for itself, which included placing well at counties and states. With major improvement and team effort all across the board, achieving these goals looks promising.

Though thrilled with their NJAC win, the team knows the season isn’t over. Several runners still want to make their mark as the championship season continues.

“Winning the NJAC for the first time since 2017 was electric, but we are focused on counties and states where we hope to continue our dominant season and bring some hardware back to Randolph,” Willis said.

The Rams will take on their next challenge at the Morris County Championship meet on Tuesday, Oct. 21.