Every year at Crow Creek Park, the Pleasant Valley cross country team hosts a home meet, called The Spartan Challenge. Regarded as one of the most difficult courses in Iowa, it draws tough competition from schools all over Iowa and Illinois, as well as one school from Minnesota.

In previous years, all three levels of the boy’s team (freshman/sophomore, junior varsity, and varsity) have run the 5K course, while only the varsity girls ran the 5K. Both the freshman/sophomore and junior varsity girls teams had previously run the 4K course, which does not include the infamous hill known as “The Exterminator.” This hill is significantly longer and steeper than most other hills in cross country courses, separating the strong from the weak.

Last Saturday brought a new challenge for the freshman/sophomore and junior varsity girls, as they ran the 5K course for the first time ever. Senior and first-time varsity runner, Grace D’Antico, described the course as, “more challenging than expected,” but she said,“the support that came from being at home definitely made it easier.”

The PV girls varsity team placed eighth with a combined score of 190, and the PV boys varsity team placed third with a combined score of 103. Girls’ head coach Jane Wheeler felt the meet was a good start, but more importantly, it served as, “formative feedback that shows where we are now, and we can use it to know how to get better from here.”

Both teams have high aspirations to get onto the podium at the state meet later this fall. Senior Andrew Witters states, “If we just keep doing what we do, and give it our all at practice, I know we can win the state title.” There’s a long season ahead, but the Spartan cross country teams are prepared to face any challenge and let nothing stand in the way of achieving their goals.