On October 5^th, the IHA cross country team and coaches embarked on a journey to Disney World in Orlando, Florida for the 21^st Annual Disney Cross Country Classic. The trip (and girls!) ran from Thursday, October 5^th to Monday, October 9^th.

Coach John Downey had been planning this trip for almost a year and the girls truly had a weekend to remember.

The girls raced on Friday, October 6^th in 90-degree heat at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The JV Mulan race went off at 2:30 and the Varsity Jasmine race was set to begin at 3:55. Unfortunately, the race was postponed because of thunder and lightning. This forced all of the teams to pack into one of the buildings at the complex.

“We all had to wait inside the giant stadium for two hours until the rain stopped,” stated Maddie Novelli’21. “It was cool because we got to bond together and eat food.”

IHA’s Cross Country Team smiles with their trophy after a long day of racing! Photo courtesy of IHAXC’s Instagram

Eventually, the Varsity team was able to start their race at 6:50, after a 3-hour delay. Overall, IHA’s JV girls placed 1^st in their division and the varsity team placed 3^rd in their division.

After a long, victorious day of racing, the girls were able to enjoy the parks for the rest of the trip. On Saturday, October 7^th, the girls visited Animal Kingdom and Epcot and on Sunday, October 8^th, they visited Magic Kingdom for the whole day.

“I love roller coasters so I was really excited to find out we were going to Animal Kingdom for a day,” said JV Coach Matt Joyce in regards to Expedition Everest, a roller coaster at the park.

“I really enjoyed going to Epcot and seeing all of the different countries and cultures in one place,” stated Cassidy Tucker’19.

The trip concluded their trip to the ‘happiest place on Earth’ with an exquisite and memorable light show at Magic Kingdom. All 37 girls had an amazing time, with Kayleigh Cicala’21 stating, “I will never forget the memories I made on this trip.” After several flight delays, the IHA XC team made it’s way to Newark Airport, but are already looking forward to returning next year.

By: Molly Gallagher’19, Staff Writer