The cross country team finished off their season at Sectionals, as four Grayslake North racers, Olivia Sanborn, Armani Diaz, Nicole Brown, and Sergio Janneau, took the stage on a very windy race day. The Knights all did very well in their last races of a strange 2020 fall season.

 In the girls varsity three mile race, Nicole Brown finished in the top 70 with a time of 21:04; along with Olivia Sanborn who finished in the top 80 with a time of 21:37. In the boys varsity three mile race, Sergio Janneau also finished in the top 80 with a time of 17:18. Armani Diaz, however, finished third overall and is primed for State this year.

“At first it felt weird,” Diaz said. “But then it hit me a little bit after, and it felt amazing.”

Armani Diaz, after joining the cross country team in 2019, seems to be getting better each year. In his first year at the Lakes Regional he finished 48th with a 18:11 time. At the Sectional, he had a personal best time of 15:55, a major improvement with a recipe of hard work. Diaz is hoping to go back to State next year and hopefully win the Sectional and get times of low 15s and possibly 14s, but with his hard work, he believes that anything is possible.

“My goal next year is to A, make it to State, and B I want to be in the 14s or low 15s timewise,” Diaz said.  “I’m probably going to start training a little bit earlier in the year with some of my teammates just to start early. I hope more of my teammates make it to State next year and hopefully all improve from last year.”