The cross country teams in Chandler are all competitive and determined to qualify for the Cross Country State Meet this year being held at Cave Creek golf course. With the new top captains John Rolfe and Gabby Yabarra they take their roles seriously, Rolfe says

“I feel like it’s a leadership position and I have to set an example for all the underclassmen and everyone else who’s been doing cross country for their whole lives, I have to lead by example lead with my words to motivate them.”

Yabarra and Rolfe work together to help improve both the girls team and the boys team so they can steer the team towards state. Yabarra said  “Being captain is fun and exciting especially because its my first year at the Perry cross country program and I just love working with the girls because we’re gonna make it big this year.”

Senior Bridget Torgerson who has been on the team since she was a freshman enjoys the new captinas saying

“The captains are very supportive of the team.”

Torgerson adds that the captains are serious about making state this year and that she sees improvement in team every practice. Junior Cade Burkes who has been on the team for two years now agrees with Torgerson saying

“They’re both great leaders.”

Burkes also states the whole team is doing extremely well this year saying

“I feel like we’ve been doing really good…that’s an improvement from last year, and

that’s from a strong senior class.”

In addition Torgerson says “The team is doing better this season, way better than last year.”

Since the Perry has been ranking extremely well this year the cross country team has high hopes of qualifying for state thanks to the new, resourceful captains this year. The boy’s team recently ranked 4th place at the Chandler Invite and the girls finished strong at 3rd place. The whole team seems to be closer and more driven than last year which gives Perry an advantage in entering the State Meet. Everyone is excited to see how well the cross country team will do in the next big meet that is being held in California, all the their hard work and perseverance will aid them in entering state, and with this season’s new captains, the team will be unstoppable.