The Cardinal Gibbons girls cross country team, led by senior Hannah Rae Shaffer, a University of North Carolina commit, is looking to yet again compete for national recognition and an N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A state title. 

Last year, the team started their postseason well by finishing first overall at the Cap-6 Conference championship.  Shaffer finished in first place individually with a time of 17:59.54. They continued on to the NCHSAA 4A East Regional and, with no surprise, finished first as a team with a score of 28 points. 

Headed to the 4A state championship in Kernersville, the team was on a roll. The girls individually finished fifth, sixth, 16th, 17th, 24th, 37th, and 51st. These individual places combined for a score of 60 points and the title.

Winning the state championship gave the girls an opportunity to compete in the Nike Cross Southeast Regional championship in Cary, where the team placed fourth overall.  Shaffer finished sixth and was the only member of the team to qualify for the national race in Portland, Oregon where she placed 69th with a time of 18:57:00.

This year, the team still has their star runners, and now a star freshman as well in Kaityln Epstep. In their first race of the year as a whole team on Sept. 7, the Knights Crossing XC Invitational, the girls finished first place overall out of 38 schools. In a race of 331 individual recorded times, Gibbons had three girls in the top 10. 

The team looks forward to another great season and hopes to excel once again regionally and nationally. The regional championships are on Oct. 26, followed by the state championships on Nov. 2 and the national qualifier on Nov. 23. The National Competition starts on Dec. 7.