Any team that enters the season with the task of trying to defend a long streak of titles can use that as motivation or it can be a source of pressure that is tough to handle.
The Monmouth Academy girls cross country team takes great pride in their streak of Mountain Valley Conference titles, which it extended to six on Saturday, and is able to deal with the pressure just fine.

"It is just a tremendous amount of pride because we are a small school and we graduate kids year after year after year," Monmouth coach Rick Amero said. "We lose the seniors who have been through those battles. This year, seniors Melanie McInnis and Kerstin Grenier have stepped into those roles.
"The kids can view it as pressure or they can view it as pride and I think it is just tradition for them now. It gives them a little bit to keep that going."
Grenier finished second in the race with a time of 22 minutes, 1 second for Monmouth, which won with 59 points. McInnis was fourth overall, finishing in 22:50.