On Saturday, September 21, the girls cross country team raced in one of the favorite races of the regular season; the Celtic Clash night race. The sky is dark, the weather is cool, and the trail is lit up with LED lights from the start to the finish line. 

   Although this year, things are different. In previous years, the race was lined up with Berlin’s Homecoming dance, so very few racers chose to participate in the meet. But, to the excitement of the girls cross country team, the race’s date was not on the night of the Homecoming dance this year.

   Typically, senior Grace Heitkamp, is the only one from Berlin who showed up to this annual race, while everyone else attended the Homecoming dance with their friends. So this year was a special one since the entire team was able to compete. 

   “It’s always better to be surrounded by teammates on the start line and have people that will celebrate each other at the finish line, and I love having our team there to do that with,” Heitkamp said. 

   At the race, Heitkamp broke the school record with 18 minutes flat, where her freshman time was 18:09. Usually as a senior it’s hard to get a personal record but she and her best friend, senior Ellie McKibben, got them effortlessly. 

   Not only did the varsity team have fun at the meet, but so did all the other runners. Everyone always has fun at this race since all the racers get to put paint on each other, wear glow sticks, and more. 

   “I loved putting paint all over each other, cheering on the other Bears that were running and spending time with the team!” sophomore Kaitlyn Kish said.

   “[My favorite part of the race was] the cool weather and the darkness, I also liked seeing the girls with light up scrunchies and spikes,” sophomore Georgia Speelman. 

   The girls had so much fun at the race and were so proud of each other’s PRs. Even the Bears that only watched the race had so much fun as well, as they played music for the racers and got to paint each other as well. 

   “I loved cheering on my team and the energy from all the runners at the meet,”  junior Caitlin Yandura said.