September 24th was cold, windy and wet!  Under the ACA canopy, our Dons prepared to take on the hill ridden League course.  As Spectators lost their umbrellas and hats to the wet wind, ACA runners were not deterred. They championed their way with not surprisingly strong finishes by our Varsity leads Harry Zimmerman and Nevis Murphy.  Our JV boys battled their way to impressive finishes led by Dylan Adams followed by Makoto Kuniyoshi and as the rain made the ground slippery and unsteady, Elliot Brunch, Cal Knage Zelles, Jose Marque, Martin Brusch and Oscar You tackled the hills with determination and grit!  On the Frosh side, Dylan Kubiatowicz took the lucky 13th place with additional strong finishes by the Frosh Dons! 

Wildly enough, the DAL challenge wasn’t enough, as three days later the ACA Cross Country team confirmed that they were born to run at the Be the Goat XC Invitational on September 27th.  At the team level, Aca took 1st or 2nd place in virtually every race. The themes of stamina and endurance were resounding as team members burst through the finish line.  The hot sun gleamed through the hills highlighting the strong finishes by Anju Sekhon and Olivia Kemp, who wrapped up top 5 finishes in the Varsity Women’s race.  ACA stars speckled the JV Women’s race as well; with Julia Kunz, Samantha Griscavage, Chloe Harvey, and others pushing for a strong close and exciting finish on the 3-mile line. 

In the Men’s races we saw the usual top finishers grab “The GOAT” titles, but they were not the only ones driving to the finish line with great race times.  Taking on a deceiving 3 mile incline course and with no shade to protect from the sun’s rays Shiras Kamran,  Aidan Burley,  Tamim Burley, Jose Manrique, Theo Benmeziane, Cade Korpita, Brock Garland, Lachlan Tidd, Zane Bruschi, Martin Bruschi, Rohan Winig, Dario Hamidi and others, punched the petal to the metal at the end to fly over the finish line. They make it look so effortless! Go ACA!