The Taft xc raced back into competition in 2021 with a strong showing on the home 3.0 mile course versus Suffield Academy and Porters. The course was wet from 3" of rain a day before, but times were fast. The duo of Charlotte Murphy and Rina Kurihara set the very quick pace for the first mile (6:17), with Murphy pulling away to win in 19:05 - just a few seconds off the fastest Taft time on the home course in the past ten years. Kate Cicchetti ran a great race, mostly by herself throughout, to finish second in 20:28, and then Sydney Grogean (3rd) and Clara Piasecki (5th) battled with the top runners from Suffield(4th) and Porters (6th) right to the finish line. Despite this being the first race for the rhinos in quite some time, there were many Taft runner who were close to personal best times. Captains Stella Oldakowski, Annabel Pick, and Lily Izmirlian finished strong as Taft's 5th, 6th, and 8th runners, and Leyla Zhaksybek finished in the varsity top 7 for the first time. All in all, it was a fantastic first race back in 2021, with perfect weather, plenty of cheering fans from the boys' xc team, many parents , and spirited visitors from Porters and Suffield. Full Results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19EXX6ICVupTcb8Dq6CBACOhbELqUAUS0i-KT5tD4bEk/edit?usp=sharing