This year, the cross country team will leave for five days to participate in one of its first out-of-state invitationals in New York. From Oct. 11 to 15, 24 members of the team will attend the Manhattan High School Cross Country Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City.

Head coach Ernie Lee and assistant coach Matt Tompkins will be accompanying the team. Out of the 101 runners, the leading 24 athletes were chosen to leave for Manhattan. “Returning varsity runners automatically received spots on the trip,” Lee said. “For the remaining 12 spots, we ran a time trial during the second week of school.”

The event hosts high school teams from all over the nation, especially those within New York and the Northeast. Although Gunn will be the only participating school from the Bay Area, other schools from California include Centennial High School in Bakersfield and Clovis High School.

Being unfamiliar with the opponent and the course has not intimidated the participating athletes. “The race is just another meet for me, and I’m not anticipating much,” senior Daniela Mehech said. “We want to enjoy ourselves and do the best we can.”

Junior Arlie Krigel agrees. “We approach our races positively,” Krigel said. “These races are more of a recreational activity. This race is no different from the other meets we’ve attended.”

The training for the trip has not changed dramatically. “Most of the top kids have been running consistently since the beginning of the summer,” Lee said.

Two-hour practices are held daily with occasional weekend practices. “Our training has slowly been increased to farther distances in shorter time intervals,” junior Greg Freehling said.

This will not be the first out-of-state competition for some runners. Since Lee began coaching the team in 1994, he and the team have traveled out of state to Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii, and Portland, Oregon, in 2002 and 2004, respectively.

Van Cortlandt Park is one of the most well known cross country facilities in the nation. Situated in the outskirts of New York City, it hosts a multitude of cross country meets for national and statewide high school meets and universities such as NYU and Fordham.

Lee wants the team to attend more meets the rest of the season. “If runners should qualify for the State Meet, they will be traveling to Fresno at the end of the season,” Lee said.

Afterwards, the team will go to Los Angeles for a post-season meet at the Footlocker Western Regional.