The Carmel Girls Cross Country TEAM followed up their 11/2/24 Indiana State Cross Country Championship title by finishing 15th at the prestigious NIKE Nationals (NXN) on 12/7/2024 in Portland, Oregon. In Portland, the girls endured a muddy course which impacted times throughout the field but did not take away from the competitiveness of the 22 team and 199 runner field. As they were at the Nike Regional, the TEAM was lead by Annabel Pollert(So.)-19:04, and followed by Larkin Taylor(So.)-19:06, and Sadie Foley(Jun.)-19:12. Margo Halle(Fr.)-19:34 and Senior Olivia Mundt-20:08 rounded out the top 5 scoring. Seniors Ella Gaddis-20:14 and Katy Dascoli-20:50 had solid races in their final races as Greyhound Harriers. This was the first time that Carmel Cross Country has qualified for NXN since 2017. At the Nike Regional (NXR) at LaVern Gibson in Terre Haute on 11/16/2024, the Greyhounds earned a qualifying bid by finishing a strong 3rd and only 1 point out of the automatic qualifying 2nd place team finish. Fortunately, the team’s 9 win regular season including the prestigious Nike Twilight Meet and a dominating run in the state tournament secured 1 of the 4 national bids throughout the 9 NXR championships. In addition to their championship squad, the Greyhounds had 19 runners compete in the open races at NXR where the TEAM was 3rd out of 52 teams. Carmel’s top 7 in the open race at NXR were Noelle Avila(Jr.), Kaitlyn Oshimura(Jr.), Lilliana Cate(Jr.), Arden Finley(Jr.), Charlotte Konow(Sr.), Elise Maurer(Fr.), and Kalinda Lee(Fr.).