The best female cross country runners in New Jersey, Group 3, collided at Holmdel Park for the State Groups race on November 14. Out of a total of 148 runners, Pascack Valley’s single representative, junior Ashley Evans, came in 48th.

Ashley ran a time of 20:52, a time that was significantly greater than what she ran at State Sectionals (19:51). Before that, at Counties, Evans ran a time of 19:19. At the Bergen County Meet of Championships, she ran a 19:12, all times that are over a minute less than her most recent race, a hip injury looked to hinder Evans’ performance.

The first place overall finisher was sophomore Alyssa Aldridge, from Indian Hills, who ran a final time of 18:13. She was the only girl that race that had an average mile time under six minutes.

A familiar face to Ashley, Courtney Burnett, was also competing in the State Groups. Burnett, from Northern Valley Old Tappan High School, came in 24th, crossing the finish line at 20:16. Ashley went up against Burnett most recently when the Pascack Valley team faced off against Demarest at Darlington Park. The Old Tappan team was part of the meet, and Evans made sure to get ahead of Burnett, for she knew she was the girl to beat at that race (Evans came in first place overall). The two also met on September 28 in a regular season meet.

Evans and the entire team had a great run this year. Evans emerged as one of the best runners in Pascack Valley history smashing records. It will be a sight to see what she can accomplish next year.

The States Meet concluded the girl’s XC season, and it’s safe to say the final race did not go unnoticed.