A cool early-September breeze sailed over the grounds of Fairbanks High School Tuesday night at the 2022 Fairbanks XC Invite, and the crowd appreciated the fact that autumn was in the air. “It was a perfect night for cross country,” said beaming Fairbanks head coach Mike Van Winkle. “This is probably the biggest crowd we’ve had for the event, the sportsmanship and camaraderie were second to none, and the home team got to bring home some trophies against stout competition. Really, things couldn’t have gone any better.” The coach had a number of reasons to be happy as dairy-fever took over both the athletes and the onlookers. “We had enough free chocolate milk for anyone who was thirstin’ for it,” reported Van Winkle. “There were just a few cartons left over at the end of the night and I think my guys took care of those.” The festivities kicked off with the Middle School boys’ race and Fairbanks’s Elton Bailey brought home third place in a time of 12:24.8. “Elton’s a natural talent,” said Panthers Middle School head coach Kathryn Rohrer. He’s got the stride and the stamina and the competitiveness that it takes to do well at the middle school level and I can’t wait to see what happens when he’s running the 5K next year in high school.” The Fairbanks Middle School Boys placed third as a team, but Coach Rohrer liked what she saw. “All of the boys were sprinting that last 200m, and I know that that can be a lot to ask of your body at that point in the race; so I’m thrilled as a coach to see that.” For Middle School girls, Sadie Miller led the charge clocking a 14:04 and finishing in fifth place. “It was a great night to run,” said Miller. “The weather was perfect and the competition was fierce. You really can’t ask for anything more.” The Panther Middle School girls finished fourth as a team behind the Columbus School for Girls, Russia, and London Middle Schools.On the high school side, the Panthers found a way to claw themselves out a couple of team trophies, led on the girls side by a quartet of top 10 finishers. Junior Rachael Hoover (20:04--2nd overall) led the pace followed closely by senior Elaina Lahmers (20:43--3rd), freshman Mara Vacari (21:18--7th) and senior Addie Thrush (21:36--8th). “It was a big night for Lahmers and Thrush,” said Van Winkle. “It was senior night, we had a tractor trailer for a stage, and there was a cow roaming a fenced off portion of the lawn. I mean. . . you can’t make this stuff up. I was so proud of our girls, and when I learned that they won the first place team trophy, I knew that it was hard won and well-deserved.” According to Thrush, being on her home turf was a definite advantage. “We know every twist and turn of that course, every pebble and tree root, so we knew that we had it in us to go out there as a team and really make a strong showing. Also, the home crowd really came out tonight; there were fans littering the course nearly the whole way through.” For the boys, bringing home a runner-up trophy to team champions Mechanicsburg is a step in the right direction. Led by sophomore Zeke Gingerich (18:20--6th place) and senior Caleb Wenger (18:27--8th place), freshman J.J. Miehls (19:20—11th) and senior Cameron Nisly (19:27--14th place), the Panther boys kept close as a pack and attacked as a team. “The boys did what I asked them to do and ran their race. Their times were good and we were packed in there close enough at the end enough to score that runner-up trophy. It feels great to put those trophies up in the school so that our XC athletes can get some much deserved recognition,” concluded Van Winkle.Unfortunately for all the cow drop Bingo participants, Shannon, the award-winning dairy cow, refused to do her part and choose a lucky square, so the winner had to be determined by a random number generator found online. According to assistant coach Emily Van Winkle, “You just never know when you’re dealing with livestock. I mean, I would’ve bet my John Deere tractor that that cow would’ve complied with our wishes and hopes, but you know, at the end of the day, blue ribbon or no, she’s gonna do what she’s gonna do and there’s really not much that can be done about that.”Coming off this success, the Panther XC teams look to Saturday where they’ll be running in the Tiffin Invite. “It’s a bigger meet, so we expect to see faster racers. We’ll have to be at our best in order to push for a team trophy, but when you’ve got athletes like ours going all out, there’s always a chance,” summarized Van Winkle.
Meet Results Link - Columbus Running Company
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