Not only is The John Carroll School’s girls cross country team 9-0 in the IAAM A Conference, 10 of its 30-person roster traveled to Florida Oct. 4-7 to successfully compete in the Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
The race took place at the Wide World of Sports Complex on Oct. 5. The Bel Air team placed third in a field of 23 teams in their heat; but the big story is the Patriots’ one-two senior punch of Erika Stasakova and Nicole Clarke who tied for a first-place photo finish.
Unfortunately, the course administrators would not recognize a tie, so Stasakova was awarded first place and Clarke was given second place with a less than one-second variance for the Walt Disney World course record books.
Stasakova and Clarke came up with the Disney trip idea more than a year ago, and after much fundraising and planning, 10 girls, eight boys and four moms, along with head coach Rob Torres and his wife, were en route to the Magic Kingdom.
Once on the ground, the contingent took in the parks and the sights.
Coach Torres said that the greatest part of their Florida adventure was receiving three big Mickey Mouse trophies for their individual first and second-place finishes as well as a team trophy.
Despite a sloppy course from rain that day, both Stasakova and Clarke finished the 3.2 mile race in just under 19 minutes.