NORTH CRAWFORD - North Crawford runners Helen Carstens and Faye Brassington traveled to Darlington for the sectional cross country meet on Friday, October 23. Both Helen and Faye entered the race as individuals by turning in strong performances during the previous sub-sectional round.

Carstens placed fourth at Darlington, qualifying her for this coming weekend’s state meet. This should come as no surprise to longtime supporters; Carstens has advanced to state cross country in all four years of her eligibility. That’s not an easy feat to accomplish as a high school athlete--especially in such a physically demanding sport as cross country. 

Carstens has certainly earned her reputation as a tough and durable runner, though. Her dedication, recognized and admired by teammates and coaching staff alike, has paved the way for her dominance within the conference. Now, with the final five-thousand meters of her high school career on the horizon, Carstens looks to make some noise.

Faye Brassington, a junior, performed well in the sub-sectional round and earned a spot at Friday’s sectional round. Brassington hadn’t participated in cross country since middle school, but made up for the lost time. Improvements could be seen at each successive meet, and she eventually grew into one of the best runners in the Ridge and Valley Conference. Brassington aspires to qualify for the state meet next year.

The team competitions were extremely close. Typically, only the top five racers from each team are used to determine their scores. The Lancaster and Kickapoo-LaFarge girls’ teams had to use their sixth-best runners in addition to the other five to determine the winner. Lancaster ended up taking home first place and earned their spot at state.

The boys’ race was just as close, with Darlington and Brookwood tying for first place. Darlington’s sixth runner placed one spot ahead of Brookwood’s sixth, giving Darlington the narrow victory and a trip to state. The WIAA State Cross Country Meet is on Saturday, October 31.