On Tuesday evening, the Fairbanks Panthers MS and HS XC teams competed at the Denny Stevens Invite at the Kokosing Dam in Fredericktown. It was an early release day for the Panthers, and they needed every second of it for the epic trip to Knox County. After what seemed like hours, the Fairbanks bus found itself on a suspicious gravel path called Pinkley Road. Time was running short; the boys only had thirty minutes until race time. “Van Winkle,” called out sophomore JJ Miehls, with a panic-stricken look on his face, “are you sure you know where we’re going?” “Buddy, I haven’t got a clue,” responded Van Winkle with his typical ice-cold demeanor. “My Apple Directions stopped working miles ago.” Soon it began to rain and the windows had to go up. “Just a bit…farther,” said Van Winkle, “I’d bet my life on it. It smells like Fredericktown.” And sure enough, as the bus crested a hill, the Panthers could see the dam looming large in the background. Then they pulled into the wrong parking lot and the pressure was on again. “Turn it around now,” screamed Assistant Middle School Coach Abby Goellner. “We’re never gonna make it out of this parking lot!” The Panthers scooted off the bus, leaving the driver quivering in uncertainty. “We’ve got to go now!” Van Winkle shouted, above the din of car horns honking at the Panther squads. Soon, the Panthers found Coach Kathryn Rohrer who was waiting at the bottom of a large hill for the teams to arrive. “What took you so long?” Rohrer wondered aloud. “We’ve got no time for stride outs! We’ve got to go live!” The Panthers dumped their stuff on the ground, a couple middle schoolers set up the tent, and the HS boys were off to the finish line; half of them were weeping tears of confusion and terror. “I don’t know what the big deal was,” said freshman Ava Lahmers. “It was a nice drive, and we got here right on time. Why are all the boys crying?”
The boys took the line and the gun sounded . . . POW! And they were off. They charged down a short opening straightaway and up a small hill to run alongside a picturesque lake before heading into the woods. “There was a lot of downhill to the course,” said freshman Elton Bailey. “People were losing their shoes left and right, but they just kept on going. Me? I still can’t get over the drive over here. I mean, as soon as my tears of terror and confusion dried up, I was ready to race, and it was a good one.” Full results are below:
Zeke Gingerich—41st place—17:33
Elton Bailey—106st—18:50
Bryce Nisly—117th—19:07
Nicholas Johnson—134th—19:33
JJ Miehls—164th—20:08
Daniel Thomas—175th—20:23
Next up were the HS girls. They stood at the line and POW! The gun sounded! They were off! Rachael Hoover moved quickly to the front and would hold her position, finishing in third place with a PR time and a new school record time of 19:02! “After that crazy bus ride, it felt great to put a 5K on my legs. I’m pleased with my time and it was great weather for a race. I didn’t feel very well the entire time, but it was okay. I feel like if I had someone running behind me, I would’ve been able to drop into the 18’s, but I was in No Man’s Land the whole time” Sophomore Molly Thrush also liked the course. “It really was not that bad. I felt really energized the whole race.” As a team, the Panther girls took second. “That’s huge for our program,” said Van Winkle. “This is a competitive meet with a ton of Central District schools, so it feels good to represent like this to let the district know what’s up at Fairbanks.” Full results for the girls are below:
Rachael Hoover—3rd—19:02
Ava Lahmers—10th—19:48
Sadie Miller—30th—21:03
Mara Vicari—32nd—21:07
Molly Thrush—71st—22:29
Hannah Niehaus—88th—23:03
Elizabeth Phillipo—96th—23:29
Meredith Reinhard—117th—24:22
Izzy Miller—161st—27:09
