The girls’ cross country program (GXC) at Phillips Academy welcomes runners of all abilities--from runners seeking to pursue the sport at the collegiate level to athletes trying the sport for the first time. With 30-40 members of GXC racing for Big Blue every fall, we have a place for runners of all experience and abilities.

Our Varsity team competes in the top division of New England preparatory schools and has won the NEPSTA Division I championship 17 times in its history--most recently repeating as champions in 2024 and 2025. Beyond our league, many runners from GXC have continued to run at the college level.

Anya Amelia Choate

Andover runners leading the way on the Great Lawn.

GXC coaches emphasize that training for cross country includes much more than running. Long-term health, wellness, and strength are the priorities of our program and stay at the core of GXC's training goals. Balanced nutrition, good sleep habits, positive thinking, cross training, and strength training all contribute to the overall health of high school runners and are key components to the successful preparation for cross country racing. Our hope is that members of GXC are always excited to come to practice to work with their teammates to get better, stronger, and faster.

​​The town of Andover provides us with superb places to run. On campus, we're lucky to train on our wonderfully challenging 5K (3.1-mile) home course that winds through the trails (and hills!) of the Cochran Bird Sanctuary. Within short distances from campus, there are numerous routes on trails and roads with the variety of terrain to prepare us for the most challenging cross country courses.

Throughout the season, we build community around striving for the same goals: to run strong, run fast, and run together. Our team-oriented approach to training has led to significant competitive success for runners within our league and beyond it. Most importantly, we hope that all runners discover or deepen their love for running when they're with GXC.

GXC Pre Manchester Strides 3

GXC in mid-stride on the Vista.