Staying Positive and Working Hard: THS Cross Country

Added by MUHAMMED KHAN on September 13, 2020.
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Staying Positive and Working Hard: THS Cross Country

By MUHAMMED KHAN, Tribune Staff & THS Cross Country Runner

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, our cross country team is able to have a season this year. They are taking extra precautions to ensure the safety of all athletes. Regardless of these changes, the team is working hard to make this one of our best seasons. Our first meet was the home invitational on August 29, 2020. Here are the general results:

High School (5k):

Varsity girls race top runner: Hanna Lippincott (1st place) – Time: 19.47.6

Overall Talawanda team score: 2nd place

Varsity boys race top runner: Kiefer Bell (3rd place) – Time: 16.20.1

Overall Talawanda team score: 2nd place

Top boy runner for JV: Daryl Zazycki (2nd place for boys) – Time: 19.39.7

Top girl runner for JV: Emily Watt (7th place for girls) – Time: 27.20.2

Overall Talawanda team score: 2nd place

*Note: JV all ran together, so placement is based on gender.

Middle School (2 miles):

Middle school girls race top runner: Lucia Rodbro (1st place) – Time: 12.53.1

Overall Talawanda team score: 2nd place

Middle school boys race top runner: Bryson Fears (1st place) – Time: 11.54.5

Overall Talawanda team score: 1st place

Official results can be found here: http://www.finishtimingresults.com/2020/08-29-TAL/

This year, our high school team has many strong runners. “Kiefer Bell has been our top runner for the boys and Hannah Lippincott for the girls. However, we have many strong individuals on our team. Logan Murray and Jens Bartel have backed up Kiefer well. Maddy Iden and Libby Farmer have also trained very hard and run well for the girls,” Coach Stiver said. Overall, we have a very positive outlook this year.

Cross country is a lot different this year due to COVID-19. The coaches and runners are making sure to follow all the safety precautions in order to keep all athletes safe and allow us to have a great season. Coach Stiver said that at practices athletes are required to wear masks when they are not running, and they have to stay 6 feet apart at all times. This is hard for our team, but we try our best. Coach Stiver along with Coach Webb, Coach Oberschlake, Coach Walsh, and Coach Mills are doing an amazing job of following the rules and making sure the athletes do as well to keep us all safe. At meets, “athletes are not allowed to report to the starting line until 5 minutes before the race. They have to wear their masks until one minute before the race starts. The starting line looks very different also as runners have 6 feet of space beside and behind them before starting. Teams are not to share food and drink with others, but are to bring their own,” Coach Stiver said. This may be hard to adjust to for some athletes, but it is something we are all willing to do to make sure our season does not get cancelled.

Overall, our goal is always to do our best and have a positive attitude. According to Coach Stiver, “As far as results-type goals – our goal every year is to win the SWOC title. Both boys and girls are defending champions so we want to repeat. Both teams qualified to the Regional Meet, so that is the goal again this year. We have had an individual qualify to the State Meet the last two years. We would like to have more than one individual qualify to the state meet and get a team qualified.” All of our runners are determined to try their best to accomplish these goals.

Other Race Dates:

Wednesday, September 9 – THS/TMS@ Valley View Inv.

Saturday, September 12 – THS @ Mason Inv. (top 20 on team)

Saturday, September 12 – TMS @ Brookville, OH Inv.

Tuesday, September 15 – THS/TMS @ Hamilton Inv.

Saturday, September 26 – THS/TMS @ Talawanda Sunset Inv.

Tuesday, October 6 – TMS @ Eaton JH Inv. Fort St. Clair

Saturday, October 10 – THS @ Kings Dual

Saturday, October 10 – TMS @ Eaton “Ed Leas” Inv. Fort St. Clair

Saturday, October 17 – THS/TMS @ SWOC (Ross)

Saturday, October 24 – THS @ District (Cedarville University)

Saturday, October 24 – TMS @ OHSAA Inv. (Lancaster – OSU Campus)