Annmarie Gower has coached track and cross country for decades. She has coached state champions. She has coached future collegiate standouts.

And now she is coaching through a pandemic.

The Barrington High School girls cross country coach said the restrictions and guidelines governing sports this fall have changed how meets work, and how student-athletes can train.

But despite the challenges, Coach Gower and her team are happy to be competing this fall.

"Absolutely. It's good for the kids," she said.

The Eagles opened their regular season on Saturday with a dual meet against Wheeler, Moses Brown and Mt. Hope. Barrington defeated Moses Brown, 25-35, Mt. Hope 17-46, and Wheeler 18-45. Barrington placed two runners in the top-five: Meghan Zitzmann finished third overall with a time of 21:36, while Lindsay Turgeon was fourth with a time of 21:41. Other top finishers included Audrey Faulkner (sixth, 21:54), Reilly Curran (eighth, 21:56), Olivia Johnson (ninth, 22:22), Maria Gunness (10th, 23:11), Natasha Epps (12th, 23:54), and Anna Garafano (13th, 24:08).

Coach Gower said the team is anchored by seniors Zitzmann, Turgeon and Gunness, and juniors Curran and Faulkner. The coach also said she expects contributions from Epps and Cassiday Owens, and Johnson, Allison Dumas and Virginia Sanderson.

Coach Gower said this year's team is a competitive group.

"They're surprising me, in a good way," she said.

Coach Gower said the unique season has impacted some of the team's training. She said that her runners did a nice job training this summer with captains practices, which left them in "good distance shape." Coach Gower said they now need to work on their speed.