The pressure-packed portion of the cross country season has ended for the Perry girls.

Now, it’s time for the Pirates to cut loose and have some fun. And they’ll get to do it on the state’s biggest stage — the Ohio Cross Country Championships at Scioto Downs in Columbus on Saturday.

“I think of all of us, only one or two haven’t experienced going to state,” junior Abbie Clifford said. “We’re all prepared. We know this is a big meet. We know the hardest meet was last week. Now, it’s time to have fun and just run.

“It’s always easier to perform better when you don’t have a huge amount of pressure on you. I think all of the girls will be surprised at how well they do if they can stay relaxed.”

“In past years, when we prepared for an important meet, we stayed serious and psyched ourselves out,” senior Rachael Greuber said. “It’s important to stay relaxed and have a good time. We want to go out and run free, remember why we do this and enjoy what we’re doing.

“When we’re relaxed, we run so much better. You can just zone out and run and that’s ultimately what we need to do. We’ll try to have a good time and stay loose.”

The Pirates are returning to Columbus as a team for the second consecutive year. Last year, they finished fifth in Division II.

That experience should help the Pirates this time around. The gun goes off at 11:50 a.m. for the Pirates.

“I think now that we have had that experience, we won’t go and be completely freaked out. We will be able to keep our heads on our shoulders and stuff won’t be as scary.”

“Being able to go to state a second time gives us more experience,” Greuber said. “It helps us not to be overwhelmed and understand the meet so we can have a better race than last year.”

“I think it definitely relieves some pressure that we’ve been there before,” senior Marissa Baranauskas said. “We know what to expect and we know what we got ourselves into.

“It’s going to be a battle. It’s going to be tough.”

Those that ran in Columbus last year will be able to help, at least in a small way, the girls that will be new to the experience this time around.

“We’ll explain the state meet to them as much as we can,” Greuber said. “But it’s hard to understand until you’re there. We’ll let them know they’ll be able to handle it. We’ll inform them the best we can on what to expect.

“We’ll tell them to not let the big crowd or the other things that make the state meet different bother them. We’ll tell them to run the best they can.”

Part of the reason Perry is returning to Columbus is they expected to. And they expect to improve on that fifth-place finish of a year ago.

“They expected to be down there,” Sarvis said. “We had the right mix. We’re not surprised that we were fourth at the district meet and fourth again at the regional. We expect to be in the third or fourth spot in Columbus.

“That’s a testament to their work ethic. They’ve all done the work. They know the competitive teams and are aware of those teams’ strengths. (At the regional and district meets) it didn’t matter where we finished, as long as we qualified. They expected it. They just wanted to make sure we got through.

“That’s a testament to the fact they believed in one another. It’s tough to believe in people as adults. They’re doing that as teenagers. Belief at that level at that age is something special.”

Clifford was the runner-up a year ago and is making her third trip to Scioto Downs.

“I’ll just see what I can do,” Clifford said. “Hopefully, it will be enough to be with the top runners. I’ll run the best I can and see what happens.

“I’ll just relax and let things happen. Hopefully, it will pay off and I’ll be happy with my performance.”

For Baranauskas, Greuber and Kristin Ludwick, the state meet will mean the end of their high school careers.

“For three of us, it’s the last race,”Baranauskas said. “It’s kind of a big finale. I want to go out and enjoy being with the team one last time.

“I don’t think any of us want to let go. This has been the best experience of my high school career. I’m really going to be sad leaving (the team). We’re definitely all friends. The cross country team is a big family, a big support system.”

Baranauskas hopes to be right along Clifford’s side in the front of the pack. She’s shown over the course of the postseason that she can run with the best.

“I feel like it’s all come together finally,” Baranauskas said. “I’ve been going to every meet knowing it might be my last shot and I’ve got to make the best time out of it.”

Having two girls finish in the top 10 or 15 would definitely go a long way toward helping the Pirates accomplish their team goal.

“Something I’ve tried to point out from Day 1 is most teams have a solid No. 1 that can finish in the single digits,” Sarvis said. “The difference between a good and great team is the No. 5, 6 and 7 girls. For example, the No. 1 can score six points and the No. 5 can score 106.

“Holy cow! One person accounting for that many points can make or break you.

“Boy, for that to happen, for us to have two girls in the top 10 or 15, wow!”

Behind that front pair, the Pirates have done a good job of running in packs, which has been key to their postseason success. It’s something they want to continue and even be better at on Saturday.

Greuber, Ludwick, sophomores Ally Nelson, Ashley Adamik and either junior Angelica Zampini or sophomore Jackie Tenney will all try and run as close together as possible in order for the Pirates to accumulate as few points as possible.

“If we can get Kristin and Ashley to finish closer to Rachael and Ally, that’s a lot of places because a ton of girls come in together,” Sarvis said. “If we can narrow that gap, it will drastically reduce our points — especially if Abbie and Marissa run the way they did this past week.”