The Hidden Valley Girls
This year's squad of Emma Rogers, Elle Anderson, Sophia Pineda, Ainsley Lester, Chloe Rogers, Amelia Ballou, and Emma Janes ran well all season. They won their regional title and came to Great Meadow on a mission. After finishing a brutal second place the year before by just one point they came to win this year. The didn't only win though, they dominated by 37 points.
That marked their third team title and sixth podium finish in the past decade at States. They followed it up with a trip to NXR-SE this past weekend.
Despite being seeded well down the list, they were able to move up and finish a surprise third place. This was unfortunately not enough to get them to NXN as it takes a top two finish to advance. This was their fourth time finishing third.
Finishing third four times at Nike Southeast could be defeating to nearly any other team, The Hidden Valley Girls though don't let anything defeat them, they celebrate everything and build onward and upward.
Of course they wanted to make the top two and go out to NXN but this was another step in the right direction. That attitude and attack is why they won another team title and why they finished third amongst state champion teams from VA, MD, DC, NC, TN, FL, GA, SC, and KY.
See if they were a team to fold under pressure they would have not won States in 2009. It was only a year before that that they lost the team title on a tie-breaker. They could have let that defeat them, make it seem like the impossible would never happen, but they flipped the script on Blacksburg and won back-to-back titles.
In fact, that team was so gritty and tough that it was the last team to defeat Blacksburg until Loudoun Valley did this year. Blacksburg had won three titles in a row before 2009 and after 2010 went on to win seven in a row.
This is once again the story this year. They lost states by just a point in 2017 and came back stronger than ever this season. This year though things are different, they are young. Out of their entire top 11, only one graduates (Emma Rogers) this year. That means next year could be the year.
Breaking thru that final barrier is never easy, especially when it is at NXR, but if any Girls team can do it, it is Hidden Valley. They celebrate their accomplishments and clearly have fun, let's just hope next year they get to have some fun in Portland too.