It was an early morning for the Panther Cross Country teams, as they rolled into the school at 7:15 for a trip to Pickerington North, which will be the site of this year’s Regional Meet. A few new faces were on the bus, as sophomore Mollie Thrush is making her season debut. Last year’s state qualifier, Mara Vacari, also was on the bus, but due to a slight soccer injury, she wouldn’t be running today. Facing off against 22 other schools, today would prove to be a great early season challenge.
The skies were overcast and there was a cool breeze in the air as the bus rolled into Pick North High School. The team camp was set up in no time, and the Panthers immediately set out on their warm-up run, looking sharp in their new warm-up uniforms. With a lot of experience having run this course seven times in her career, senior Rachael Hoover knows this setting well. She said, “This is a pretty nice course. I like how it goes through the woods, and the hill hits right in the perfect place. Going through the woods a second time is pretty scary, I’m not going to lie. It feels like you’re being chased by a creeper.” Sophomore Mara Vacari remembers having to push herself in order to make it to states. “Definitely the second time you hit the woods, it’s time to see what you’re made of. I remember last year, the weight of the pressure to make states really came on during that last mile.”
The boys took the line first. They listened to the judge’s final instructions, and before you knew it, POW! They were off!
Freshman Daniel Thomas reflected on one of the first big meets of his young career. “The course was hard. The hill really took me out and I felt dead for the last mile. There were lots of mud patches and the ground was soft from the recent rainstorms. That made for quite an uneven surface to run on. The competition was tough. There were a lot of big teams and they seemed to swarm all around us.” Freshman Leo Bosworth also thought the course was tough. “I don’t know. The first mile was fine, but really muddy. The second mile was a little challenging, but we had to just keep going with it; find a person and try to beat him. While you’re running, think of two things: think of the person you have to run for, and then think of the person you like the most, and imagine that they will be there, cheering for you at the end.” Zeke Gingerich once again led the way for the boys, with Bryce Nisly and JJ Miehls not too far behind. Complete results for the boys are below:
Zeke Gingerich—31st—18:17
Bryce Nisly—75th—19:45
JJ Miehls—86th—19:54
Elton Bailey—118th—20:46.6
Daniel Thomas—134th—21:11.9
Nicholas Johnson—172nd-22:22.8
Leo Bosworth—205th-24:14.8
Brady Adams—206th-24:17.0
Next up, at 10:25, were the girls. The runners lined up in their boxes, and POW! The gun sounded and the girls took off down the opening stretch of field.
Rachael Hoover quickly moved to the front of the pack, but found herself struggling towards the middle of the race. “I felt like I had bricks for legs,” said Hoover. “I attribute it to the fact that we’ve had three races in seven days, and I just felt tired and slow the entire time.” Hoover would finish the race in 7th place, followed closely by freshman phenom Ava Lahmers, who came in 10th place. Senior Kayden Fields was exhilarated when she crossed the finish line. “TWO MINUTES FASTER THAN LAST WEEK! I paced with a girl for two and half miles, and she’s the reason that I didn’t stop or slow down. KAYDEN FIELDS OUT!” “Overall, it was a strong day for the girls, despite star runners Mara Vicari and Sadie Miller being out. It all comes down to that pack of sophomore girls [Niehaus, Reinhard, and Phillipo]. How they finish determines the day,” according to Head Coach Mike Van Winkle. “We’ve still got a lot of season ahead of us and we have yet to run at full force. I can’t wait until we can come out with all of our runners, primed and ready to go.” Full results for the ladies are below:
Rachael Hoover—7th—20:28
Ava Lahmers—10th—20:40
Elizabeth Phillipo—62nd—24:25
Molly Thrush—65th—24:39
Hannah Niehaus—69th—24:49
Meredith Reinhard—103rd—26:44
Kayden Fields—125th—28:01
Izzy Miller—142nd—29:40
