Boys’ and girls’ cross country ran the Brenham Hillacious course, known to many as the toughest course in Texas, on Sept. 22. The boys had run the course in years past, but 2018 marks the first year the girls’ team travelled to the invitational.

“I was definitely more nervous going into this meet than usual,” girls’ captain Emily Feng said. “I was unsure of what to expect, but I was honestly kind of excited to see these alleged hay bales.”

The Hillacious course features a long, flat beginning and hay bales throughout, but the course’s claim to fame is its wide stretch of challenging hills in the middle of the race. The Mavericks faced extra challenges that Saturday due to the rainy forecast. The rain began early that morning, pouring on the boys’ Varsity 2 starting line.

“The race was extremely challenging,” junior Peter Wade said. “I was lucky enough to be in the first boys’ race because the conditions only got worse from that point on.”

During the girls’ race, muddy sections of the course gradually transformed into mud pits. Boys’ coach Richie Mercado described the course as a “mud bath,” and according to Feng, runners would wipe out on tight curves due to the slippery conditions.  

After the race, the boys made a pitstop on the way back to Houston at freshman Pete Curtis’ ranch. The team swam in the Curtis Ranch pool and played football to relax and have fun after the meet.

“We also ate some barbecue,” Wade said. “It was a special treat after a tough meet.”

Although the girls were unaccustomed to the course, Feng was still happy with the team’s performance on Brenham’s tough hills.

“The meet went pretty well considering it was our first time running that course,” Feng said. “It was definitely a hard course; it had some tough hills and really tested us mentally.”