Mission accomplished for Brooke Mussche.
"My goal was just to work hard, and and mainly, just to come top three," she explained.
And that is exactly what she did, finding the podium with a third-place finish on Saturday at the B.C. high school cross country provincial championships.
The race was held at Vancouver's Jericho Beach Park.
The Grade 9 student at Langley Christian, finished the course in 18:31, three seconds ahead of fourth place. She was 30 seconds behind Kitsilano's Annika Austin and 10 seconds behind Sentinel's Rhian Paterson.
It was her first time running this particular course.
As for the race-day conditions, Mussche said she enjoyed it.
"I like running on the trails when it is rainy and muddy," she explained.
Mussche also ran at the junior provincials last year as a Grade 8 student, and finished seventh overall. Last month, she captured the Fraser Valley cross country individual title.