This past Tuesday, October 24, the Lady Warriors cross country team advanced to the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) regional round for the first time in school history, as they were one of the three girls teams to compete in districts.
Coming in first for the Lady Warriors was sophomore Abigail Gottlieb. Finishing in seventeenth place with a time of 28:10, Gottlieb nearly achieved personal qualification to the regional round.
“I think we succeeded in many aspects as a team,” said captain Zoe Sugar (11th). “I am very proud of how far we have come, especially considering that our season was cut short due to Hurricane Irma. I am very happy about our placement from districts. The results of our season clearly show how much effort we have put into making it a successful one. We worked hard and we strived for the best, there’s no other way to put it.”
For the boys, Akiva Itzkowitz (8th) finished ninth overall with a personal best of 20:54, good enough for Itzkowitz to qualify for regionals. Captain Yakov Schwab (11th) finished shortly behind in sixteenth place (22:10) missing regional qualification by one place.
“Collectively, the team ran a great race today,” Schwab said. “I was proud to see everyone push themselves in our final meet as a team. I hope everyone will be back next year as our team has a lot of growing potential. And of course, a big congrats to Akiva on his place in regionals. He has really worked hard this past year and I appreciate his commitment to our team.”
The second girls runner to cross the finish line shared some thoughts about having only one more year as a Lady Warrior.
“Being a junior and realizing this is one of my last year’s running on the Hebrew Academy’s cross country team makes me want to give it my all,” said Kayla Hershkowitz (11th). “Entering districts this week, I was excited and my teammates and I wanted to try our hardest and push ourselves and each other.”
By: Menachem Levy (9th Grade)
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