Auburn, AL – The Auburn High School Girls Cross Country team continues to be one of the most dominant teams in East Alabama. The Lady Tigers won their 7th State Championship in the past 8 seasons. This season 3 runners also captured top individual honors. Eva McGowan, a senior on the cross country team, said it was a childhood dream to add to this championship pedigree of this program.
“It meant so much to me. My sister was part of this team. So I’ve been watching this team since I was elementary school. So it means a lot to be apart of three out of four of my winning teams for my varsity season. It’s just a very sentimental thing for me,” said McGowan.
The Lady Tigers also understand there’s a high standard with the cross country team. Instead of buckling under the pressure of those high expectations they continue to rise up to challenge.
“It can be intimidating at times to think how you have to perform. But really it’s about the girls that came before you and the girls that you’re running with at the time. We have a really strong team. I think it’s remembering that everyone is in it together,” said junior Linnea Cox.
Every championship winning team is a little bit different. Auburn head coach Olivia Bowen had one word to describe the unique chemistry among this year’s runners.
“I think one word to describe them would be goofy. They have the best time with each other. To the point where a lot of the time it’s me; we got to get started. So they get to practice they work hard, they laugh. They have fun in a sport that can be so challenging. That can be so isolating when you look at it,” said head coach Bowen.
The runners also agree their goofiness is one of their strengths, because it’s also pushed them through their really hard practices and meets.
“We’ve been able to push through workouts with a little humor. With a little key phrases that we have that mean absolutely nothing but they make us smile. So I think all the girls here know how to put a smile on each other’s faces,” said Cox.
The Lady Tigers dominance won’t just end with this season. There are only 3 seniors on this year’s roster, so there’s plenty of underclassmen returning next season. For now congratulations to our newest Kia AutoSport Athletes of the Week the Auburn High Girls Cross Country team.
