As the races come to an end for the Santa Barbara High School cross country team, Head Coach Olivia Perdices and her team shed some light on the highs and lows of the 2024-25 season. After their most recent Channel League meet at Lake Casitas Ojai on Oct. 5, they’re currently sitting at fourth and fifth place and are looking forward to their last three upcoming races.

On the girls side of cross country, top distance runner Madeleine Van Bebber has “been doing an outstanding job, being up front at every race and currently sitting at a time of 20:20,” said coach Perdices. Van Bebber is currently the girls cross country captain and placed 12th at the Ojai Invitational event at Lake Casitas on Sept. 21. Van Bebber reflected by saying, “I feel [as if I’ve] gotten slower compared to last season and a lot of the team mates would say the same, we haven’t PRed yet but as a team we still show up persistent after every practice and race; I think regardless of our state and comparison to last year there is a higher possibility of us making it to [CIF] this year.” Coach Perdices added on by saying, “the girls have been a lot more consistent then they have compared to other years in terms of their performance and skill. You can see how they’ve stepped it up remarkably. In the previous years there has been a huge gap between the boys and the girls, but this year it has been fun and rewarding to watch as the girls progress up with the guys this season.” 

As for the boys, the freshman and sophomore class have been doing an incredible job showing off once again, as they went to state Cross Country Championships last year alongside varsity and are now on their way to CIF this year. Varsity Captains Nico Tassos and Matthias Everest have been showing not only their leadership skills on the team this year, but performance abilities as well. Tassos is top distance runner and Everest wings underneath as they’re constantly upfront at every race. Everest mentions, “It’s not an ideal position for us to be a little behind in this season but I know that regardless we are doing really well and have utmost confidence that we will get San Marcos and Dos Pueblos by the end.” Team mate Jacob Shapiro says, “We’re a really good team. We just don’t have the ideal runners right now as our team is a little smaller. Our best runners graduated last school year but Matthias and Nico have shown how we can strategize with team bonding and know we can rise up to the top for league finals.” 

The team is showing a strong sense of dedication to assure their wins, with the last three races before league finals taking place at Dos Pueblos on Nov. 6. Coach Perdices concludes, “We look to get better every time we show up to a race, especially before league finals, but there’s no doubt why these kids are always upfront. They’re the runners, seniors, and captains that you expect that from, they show up and get it done.”