It's always the ultimate goal for every high school athletic team in any sport to win a state championship.
It's much easier said than done. Everything has to come together at just the right time and all the pieces have to fall in place on the same day. As the old saying goes, you have to be lucky and good to win a state title.
Winning one time is a major accomplishment. Often times, repeating the next year is much more difficult.
But to win for three years in a row goes just a little bit deeper as a team gets more accustomed to doing what is necessary to bring home the biggest trophy.
That's what happened for the Lady Eagles from Signal Mountain last Saturday at Nashville's Percy Warner Park.
With three runners in the top 10 overall and a fourth finishing 13th and thus earning All-State honors, the Signal Mountain girls prevailed with 46 points, beating runner-up Christian Academy of Knoxville by 13 points.
It had rained most of the week and the up-and-down course was muddy and quite slick in places, but overcast skies and a slight breeze created otherwise perfect conditions for the state's biggest race.
The Lady Eagles responded with their best effort as they claimed the biggest prize in Class A/AA for the third straight year.
"We always have a pre-race talk before they go to the line, but we didn't have to say a whole lot as they were completely tuned in," said assistant coach Tony Young earlier this week.
"You could tell they were fired up. It was their last race for Signal Mountain High School and they wanted to make the most of it. They've had a target on their back all year, but they didn't have any doubts as they knew they had the ability to win again.
"They all ran their very best, ranging from 30 seconds to 90 seconds in improvement, but they were as physically fit and ready to race as possible. And to do what they did just shows what kind of character they have and the desire they put forth," Young added.
Dustin Carpenter is now in his second year as the head coach and he felt a bit more nervous and uptight than the rest, but he got better as the race unfolded.
"Last year I was still learning how to handle all of this, but I think I felt more pressure this year," he said after meeting with his girls about the upcoming Foot Locker Regional race, which will be in Charlotte on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
"I've watched them all work so hard this fall and they deserved to win, but it's always nice to see them rise to the challenge and that's what they all did, especially our four seniors. It was a great performance, but those four really made it happen.
"We felt good about the results as they finished, but you're never sure until the results are posted. But it was a blast and a real relief for them to achieve the goal they all set at the beginning. They just seem to keep getting better," Carpenter added.
Junior Taylor Luthringer has been the front runner for the Lady Eagles all fall, but she was slowed somewhat by a nagging respiratory infection that has now turned from bronchitis to walking pneumonia. Despite that, she still finished fifth in 19:58.
Stephanie Peterson, one of those seniors, had her highest finish ever as she claimed third in 18:58. Senior Becca Umbarger was eighth in 20:11 while Emmy Davis -- just an eighth grader -- earned All-State honors in her first attempt after finishing 13th in 20:44.
Freshman Mattie Parker was 29th in 21:38 while seniors Erin Brown and Olivia Young were 34th and 41st with times of 21:48 and 22:06, respectively.
Peterson wasn't in the meeting with the rest of the team as she was busy practicing basketball, but she was still excited about the big event on Saturday.
"It was really exciting. It wasn't a PR, but it was my best time on that course. It was a great feeling to do as well as I did, but this year is the first year I really took it seriously and my hard work paid off," she expressed.
"They are all an amazing experience, but I'm just so lucky to be on this team," said the 16-year-old Luthringer, who has been told by doctors to take some time off to get well.
"We knew we had a good chance to win, so I just gave my all. I think I may have started out too fast as my lungs were hurting and I couldn't hold on a the end, but it was a total team effort and I couldn't have been any more proud," she added, noting that she also finished fifth last year.
Davis proved in her first attempt that she's a competitor and really knows how to step up big when the stakes are highest.
"It was just an awesome day," the 13-year-old said with a smile.
"That course doesn't promote fast times, but I knew if I did my best, that's all I could do. I was so excited when I heard that we had won," she added.
Umbarger had been there the previous two times and she knew as well as anyone just what was on the line.
"I was a little bit nervous before the race began, but I was also confident because we had worked so hard. We were all ready to run and it showed," she nodded.
Parker is a 14-year-old freshman who appeared to be more shy than the rest, although she's probably not, but she was certainly the most soft-spoken member of the team.
"I didn't feel very good when we started, but I felt better as the day progressed. It was really special to be part of a winning team," she said.
"I didn't have my best race, but I was so relieved and proud of my team when it was over," said Brown.
"I felt like I had to lay it all on the line, but Mattie really stepped up and Emmy did an amazing job as well," Brown complimented her teammates.
Young doesn't have quite the fire in her belly over running that her older sister Mallory did before graduating and going to Belmont to run. But Olivia was still in the right place at the right time.
"It was an okay race as I put it all out there. I really shifted into another gear on the last hill, but it was a positive note to go out on," she said with a smile.
The Signal Mountain have become the team to beat in cross country and track too for that matter. The Lady Eagles will be gunning for their third straight state title in track in May.
Who knows what will happen between now and then. Like was said earlier, it all has to fall together at the same time on the same day.
The Signal Mountain girls have the talent and they appear to have the willingness to do what it takes.
And they will continue to celebrate state championships as long as possible.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)