The Naperville North boys and girls cross country teams hosted the Twilight Invitational at home on Wednesday night. The girls placed first for varsity, and the boys placed eleventh. 

The girls, continuing their successful season, had top runner Lucy Westlake place eleventh in varsity, with a final time of 17:37 for the three mile race. The lady Huskies scored a 98 overall, putting them in first place by 18 points.  Westlake believes that her team’s unique race strategy was key to their first place win. 

“Our team takes it slow at first, so during the last mile we can go all out,” Westlake said. 

Though cross country isn’t a classic team sport, the girls work together as a team to push each other to do their best. Assistant Coach Anna Kraftson loves to see her team working together to better their teammates. 

“These girls hold each other accountable to push themselves through the race,” Kraftson said. 

The varsity boys team placed eleventh overall, with Gabe Ryan as their top runner. Ryan placed sixth overall with a time of 15:06, and is looking to push himself in his next race to improve his time. 

“I’m going to try to push the mid half of the race more and really keep my speed up on the middle mile,” Ryan said. 

Both teams are competing next in the Dupage Valley Conference meet at Waubonsie Valley on Saturday, Oct. 16.