Girls cross country will start the post Enyaeva Michelin era with the Hinsdale Central Iinvite this Saturday, an invite they have excelled at in the past.

Evanston finished ninth at the meet last year out of the 27 team field, helped by a Michelin second place finish. They have tallied eighth and tenth place finishes in the last three years as well.

“It’s a nice wake-up call,” coach Rosette Ochoa said. “It’s a chance to go out there and see what summer training has done. We can see where we are and where we need to go.”

One of the most important invites of the year is the First to the Finish invite next week. The team will run at Detweiller Park in Peoria, the course where the state meet is held.

“It gives you a great feel for the course,” senior captain Katy Finneran said. “It’s the exact same setup as the state meet so it’s important for our runners when we make it down to state.”,” senior captain Katy Finneran said.

As Finneran and the co-captains take over the leadership role this season, they want to keep some aspects of what Michelin and the other leaders have done in years past but also change some things.has done in years past, while changing things for the better.

“One of the new things were going to try to do is allow for more team bonding time,” Finneran said. “We want to have a greater sense of community.”

Michelin may be gone, but with numerous talented athletes returning, the girls cross country program should be in good hands for years to come.