A rarity seen in extracurricular activities is a group of siblings who participate in the same activity and actually get along. That’s why the fact that sisters Sophie Looker, senior, Grace Looker, sophomore, and Claire Looker, freshman, all run on Homestead’s cross country team together makes a unique sibling sports story.

Regarding joining the team, Claire said, “I probably wouldn’t have done it if they didn’t force me to. I never was really into running, but they were looking forward to all [of us] being on the team, so I guess I couldn’t have let them down.” She went on to express that her sisters inspire her to be better because “they’re both pretty good at running.”

With a sport that has a family-like team spirit, having an actual family would seem to enhance this aspect. The sisters do support each other and try to push each other, but when it comes to races, they try to concentrate on their own running. Sophie laughed, “I don’t let them pass me.”

Running together is hard, both in-season and off-season. Grace expressed that they never see too much of each other because each of them run within different subgroups of the team. “We try to [run together off-season], but… I don’t think it’s ever been all three of us at once, usually just two of us. We try to force Claire to run,” she said.

Even though they don’t necessarily run together that often, they still make cherishable moments. Victor Vilar, head coach of Homestead’s girls cross country team, said, “I know they love being [able] to spend this year together.”

Sophie said, “Because the three of us are so different, cross [country] is definitely the best opportunity we’ve had to create common ground and spend time together. It’s part of our daily routine.”