Cardinal senior Megan Maddox continues to impress during her first season on the cross country trail.
Maddox ran a time of 21:48 to win first place at the 48th annual George Gross Invitational on Tuesday at Valley View Woods Park in Valley View.
“It felt amazing,” Maddox said of her first win. “I kept thinking to myself, I want to win, run to win, and it worked.”
The win wasn’t a complete surprise for Maddox.
She has trained hard all season and pushes herself each race to finish near the front.
“I didn’t really plan out this race,” she said. “I went in with the mentality of I want to win, and I just pushed myself throughout the entirety of the race. I was racing with a girl for the first 3/4 of a mile, but then I was able to gain a significant lead, which I managed to keep throughout the race. As soon as I crossed the finish line, the feeling that I won set in and I was beyond excited.
Maddox, who already has locked down the No. 6 spot in Cardinal’s all-time history, hopes to build off this win as the postseason nears.
“For my first season of cross country, it definitely boosted my confidence to be able to win a race,” she said. “I’m hoping this win will help me to race even harder come (the league meet) and districts.”
Maddox beat the second place finisher by over a minute.
Jenna Ayer (26:01), Autumn Zak (26:36), Abigail Geesling (27:28) and Hanna Sauberan (29:08) also ran for the Huskies’ girls’ team, which finished fourth.
Joey Bradesca finished in 20:31, good for eighth place, to pace the Cardinal boys’ team.
Brendan White (20:40), Benjamin Lobdell (20:56), Trevor Bachna (21:53), Gene Henrie (21:56) and Clayton Saubern (25:50) also competed.
