After the race, head coach Chris Nordstrom said he thought the girls’ team had placed second, but when scores came up he couldn’t wait to tell everyone about the win by two points.

“I knew it was super close, I actually thought we had gotten second,” Nordstrom said. “Results came up on my phone, and it said we had won by two points. I wanted to wait until it was official so I was pretty nervous, but when it was I was super pumped for our girls.”

Eighth grader Ruby Massie said she is very proud of how far the team has come in such a short time.

“It’s one of the first conference wins for us and I’m so proud,” Massie said. “We have worked really hard this year and we are a young team so there is a lot to come.”

Boys’ cross country runner Nebyu Bekele said he is proud of how the girls did and all the obstacles they overcame this season.

“The girls had a really good team,” Bekele said. “They won Griak which is one of the hardest races in the state and they just won conference.”

According to Massie, Jefferson was a big competitor going into this race.

“We knew it was going to be close with Jefferson,” Massie said. “Running in a pack really helped, and I had a good time.”

The actual time of the individual runner doesn’t matter as much as the overall place the team gets, according to Massie.

“It didn’t really matter the times we got. What matters was the place, and we all stacked up and got first by one point,” Massie said.

Bekele said he thinks the girls will have a good team for years to come.

“They’re doing really good this year,” Bekele said. “They have a lot of depth which is good for upcoming seasons.”

Massie said she is looking forward to sections — which are days away — and improving in the next couple years.

“I am very excited that I am a younger person on the team because I know how much I can grow and work for,” Massie said.

Bekele said the team is doing well and is looking forward to the upcoming weeks.

“This is my second year on the cross country team,” Bekele said. “We still have sections and hopefully State for some of us.”

Nordstrom said he is proud because winning conference was one of the team’s major goals since the season started.

“Winning conference was a goal of ours from the beginning of the season, we knew it would be tough so to come out on top was a big accomplishment for our girls,” Nordstrom said.