Kicking off the 2024-2025 season of Cherry Hill High School East’s girls’ cross-country—coached by Christine Mason and Assistant Coach Erin Cotoni—the battle at Ocean County Park saw a solid outcome for the team. Freshmen took sixth place, sophomores took second place, and juniors and seniors took fourth. 

Practice started back in June, with mandatory practice starting in August. Setting the tone for the rest of the season, the girls’ cross-country team has seen more successful results compared to previous years.

At the Shore Coaches Invitational in Holmdel, NJ, the JV team dominated with a first-place finish. The Freshmen team also showed their strength, taking first place in their division. Varsity had a strong showing, making it into the top 14 out of 132 teams, ultimately placing fourth. 

The third meet of the year, the South Jersey Track Coaches Association Open, yielded triumphant results as well. The Varsity girls of the meet—Ryleigh Budsock (‘27), Cate Feudtner (‘25), Gabriella Pizzo (‘27), Ella Davidson (‘26), Keira Conway (‘26), Shaelea Conway (‘26), and Katherine Grottini (‘27)—won their division and secured the fastest meet time of the day. Furthermore, the Freshmen girls mirrored that success, winning their race. 

At the Olympic Conference Championships, varsity placed third overall, and JV took first place, sweeping the race with a perfect score. 

Moving to the NJSIAA Sectionals (South), Budsock took 5th place with a time of 19:01, and runners Feudtner and Davidson posted personal records of 19:22 and 19:42, respectively. The Varsity team placed second, leading them to win 6th place at the state meet. 

At the NJSIAA Group Championships, the Varsity girls placed sixth out of 20 teams. Budsock will move on to the Meet of Champions, which brings together the best runners from each Group State Championship. Additionally, Emmie Wang (‘28) was a top scorer on the Freshmen team, and she was eventually moved up to Varsity for the Olympic Conference Championships, NJSIAA Sectionals, and States

Varsity runner, Shaelea Conway (‘26) has attributed her team’s success to the overall depth that her teammates contribute. 

“Everyone put in the work and effort…a strong mentality along with being in good shape…prepared [us] for what the season had to offer,” she said. 

The seven members of the Varsity team have changed throughout the season for different races and the competitiveness has helped the members of the team to push their boundaries and strive for better results. The team has fostered a supportive environment and created deep connections with each other.

“Cross country is a very mental sport, so having people around you…to comfort you when you are sad or to just cheer you on during the race makes a huge impact on the morale and success of the team,” Conway said. 

JV runner, Jessica Zhou (‘25) also added that the cross country program and the discipline has helped runners flourish and see their best results. 

“This year, we had our running peaks moved so that instead of peaking our mileage in the first half of the season, we peaked in the third quarter of the season, aka in the middle of race season,” Zhou said.

Additionally, new muscle-strengthening exercises in the hips and lower half of the body were implemented into the training to improve form and stride in the runners. The intense, but effective program that was implemented this year was created by Coach Mason through her research about mileage, diet, and muscle strengthening—helping runners set personal records. 

Zhou said, “Discipline was the most important part of the process. If you did not show up, you made up the mileage somehow.”

The combination of team support, program intensity, and a strong dedication to the sport has helped the girls’ cross-country team to reach higher success so far in their season.