it runs in the family

HAPPY FAMILY: Multiple sets of siblings run cross country as well as the entire team celebrate the success of the girls first state championship.
 Kerrigan ‘25 and Finton ‘27 Chaney, Josh ‘25 and Caleb ‘28 Miao, Harry ‘25 and Peter ‘27 Anderson, twins Madison and Olivia Ball ‘29, all ran for the varsity this year. The Ball’s ran with younger brother Gavin ‘30 on the Middle School team. Last year Alex ‘24 and Gabe Dickenson ‘29 shared workouts on the cross country team spanning seven years, the boys and girls team. 
Not many people were aware of the coincidence of the amount of siblings that inhabit the team. Kerrigan and Finn’s mom, Darcy McGrath, suggested that someone in the newspaper should talk about the amount of siblings on the team. This opened not only my and the team's eyes but fellow journalist and cross country teammate, Kaitlyn Perkins ‘28. 
“I don’t really notice because on the team like siblings would,” Perkins said. “We push each other and compete to get better.”
The wave of eighth graders got to shine on the varsity and assisted on the first ever win for girls cross country in the history of NCS.”It was a team effort from beginning to end,”  Head Coach Ed Dickenson said, “reflecting the character and heart that our girls' team has shown all season. Amazing performance!” 
Twin troubles: Olivia Ball ran a 21:51, the fourth fastest time among the Raider girls and cementing the championship with her 24th-place finish. In only her second varsity race, her sister Madison came in at 23:33, putting her at 63rd overall. More than 150 girls ran in the Div. II race.
Another sibling duo that seems to fly under the radar is Josh ‘25 and Caleb ‘28 Miao. 
“It’s been pretty fun to be able to run with Caleb this year because even though we’ve been on the same team before . . . we haven’t, you know, both like been varsity, like running together, so that’s been a pretty cool thing,” Josh said. “It’s also been cool to see how much progress he's made, because the last couple of years he’s been in middle school, and I’ve been in high school, so we’ve been running together in practices but never in a race.” 
Caleb finished his season at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, running a very solid 21:27. Running a sub-20 minute top-five time for the team, Josh has not finished his season and high school  career yet. He and his teammates are eager to go out with a bang at the Foot Locker meet, Nov. 30th in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the majority of his fellow senior runners.
Finishing third overall in the race, the boys were paced by Spencer Britton ‘27, who placed second overall, and Finn Chaney, who placed 10th overall. Meanwhile, Justus Horner ‘28, whose sister Lydia ‘24 ran with the team for many years, placed 20th. Those three Raiders earned all-state honors. Five seconds after Justus, Harry placed 21st.

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