St. Barnabas High School celebrated its new girls running club with a team race through Van Cortlandt Park this week.

Coach Paul Leonard says there was a lot of interest for creating a running team, but few girls who had experience.

"They've come together and worked really, really hard," he says. "And we've got a nice little team going."

Joining the girls on their inaugural run were teachers and staff members and even the superintendent of the Archdiocese of New York, Timothy McNiff.

McNiff says the girls are well on their way to a healthy lifestyle.

"When we first started, we didn't know anything," says 11th-grader Briana Allen, "We came to learn the potential that we didn't know we had."

The long-term goal is to have the team ready for competitive running.