There was an unseasonal chill in the air at Ben Logan High School on Tuesday afternoon. Beneath a partly cloudy sky, the Fairbanks Middle and High School athletes set up the team tents, put on their sweatshirts, and shivered. Were they ready for this? The first actual OHSAA recognized meet of the year? All the miles they had accumulated, all of the pairs of running shoes they had gone through, all of the gallons of sweet chocolate milk they had drunk. Would any of it matter when the gun sounded? Let’s go closer to the team camp and see what we can discern. There sits freshman, Prairie Bailey, diligently working on an early-year homework assignment. She scrunches her eyebrows together and tries to focus, but her mind is elsewhere. After all, this is her first real high school meet. Her heart is beating, and even in the cool air, she can feel her palms sweating. Suddenly, a shadow falls over her notebook. She looks up and sees her team captains standing over her. “You ready for this, Bailey?” Ava Lahmers asks. “Don’t let us down,” says Elizabeth Phillipo. “You’d best run hard,” whispers Sadie Miller. Prairie attempts to reply, but finds that her tongue is cleaving to the roof of her mouth, and all she can do is vigorously nod. The captains move as one away from her and begin heading towards the start line. Prairie hurriedly puts her notebook away, and pushes herself to her feet. “I can’t be late. Must prove it to them.” With the speed of a panther, she takes off after the team captains and begins to prep for the race.
For the boys, junior JJ Miehls is all business. He positions himself in the sun, between the two team tents. Air pods are firmly wedged into his ears and he calmly bobs his head to the Led Zeppelin playlist that Coach Van Winkle has been building on Substack. Lead singer, Robert Plant, lets out a primal scream, and JJ smiles. He knows that sound. It is the sound his lungs make when he’s in the middle of a race and his body is telling him to slow down. Nonsense, thinks JJ. He knows that pain is temporary. He has stared into the abyss that has come to be the focal point of Coach Van Winkle’s increasingly strange sermons. JJ reclines and closes his eyes. He is envisioning the two mile race that is just ahead of him. He knows the course well; he’s been here before. But now, as an upperclassman, a new sense of urgency has been born. Suddenly, a shadow is cast over JJ’s face. He opens his eyes, and standing above him, looking down, are his captains. “That better be Zeppelin you’re listening to,” says Zeke Gingerich. “Are you ready to rock and roll?” Bryce Nisly asks through clenched teeth. “You’d best run hard,” whispers Nicholas Johnson. “Oh, yessir. Yessir,” says JJ, who is clearly intimidated by the three seniors, looming large over him. In the distance, a whistle sounds. “Time to crank it to 11,” says Gingerich, and the three captains move as one towards the start of the race. JJ quickly puts his Air pods back in their case, shuffles off his warm-ups, and follows in the captains’ footsteps towards the beginning of the course.
The Lady Panthers run first. They step to the line, and POW! They’re off. They sprint down the opening straightaway, almost toppling over each other as they reach a steep decline. Then, they disappear around the bend, into the woods, where the shadows take control. As if in a dream, the runners reappear nearly ten minutes later, entering the fenced area and running the final 200m on the track. When they crossed the finish line, the crowd knew what they were seeing: just another first place team trophy for the Lady Panthers. No biggie. They’re used to this by now. Full results below:
2nd place—Mara Vicari—-12:56
3rd place—Ava Lahmers—13:06
4th place—Sadie Miller—13:33
6th place—Mollie Thrush—13:37
15th—Avery Thorley—14:30
18th—Hannah Niehaus—14:35
21st—Stephanie Headings—14:48
22nd—Hadley Premuda—14:50
27th—Elizabeth Phillipo—15:18
30th—Evie Reidman—15:42
35th—Prairie Bailey—16:16
38th—Corrinna Seabourne—17:11
45th—Lanay Sommers—18:05
Next up are the Fairbanks boys. They stare down their opponents at the line, then shift their focus to the task at hand. Two miles. It’s going to be brutal. the gun sounds, POW! And they’re off. Senior Zeke Gingerich looks strong as the pack of boys turn the corner and enter the woods. What happens in the woods, stays in the woods, and for all we spectators know, there is violence and bloodshed. But no. Wait. The runners are coming back around and they all seem to be in one piece. Full results below:
3rd place—Zeke Gingerich—10:28
20th place—Bryce Nisly—11:41
22nd place—Brady Adams—11:52
24th place—Daniel Thomas—11:58
26th place—Noah Thorley—12:03
34th place—JJ Meihls—12:29
35th place—Wesley Goellner—12:34
48th place—Elton Bailey—13:06
55th place—Triton Rhodes—14:16