The Journey to the Start Line
By Garrison Franks
Disclaimer: Garrison runs for Talawanda High School Cross Country.
As the temperature drops in Oxford, the weeks of Talawanda’s fall sports seasons are coming to a close. Student athletes find themselves with little time left to reach their peak performance and gear up for the climax that they’ve been training for since the heat of August. For many of these athletes, the grand finale will be our local SWOC championship; however, others will advance to districts, regionals, or even to the state championship. Out on the lanes of the track and the grass fields of the cross country course, some of Talawanda’s runners hope to accomplish just that.
For our cross country team, the starting gun of the post season will fire this Saturday at Harrison High School. The Brave will take on Harrison’s Wildcats, as well as Northwest’s Knights and Mount Healthy’s Owls in the race for the SWOC title. The womens’ team hopes to continue their winning streak, whereas the men hope are looking to make a comeback after barely falling short to Harrison and placing second last year. Each runner will have to bring their best effort to Saturday’s start line as they throw their weight behind these team goals; however, many are viewing the meet as an opportunity to check off some final individual accomplishments before they hang up their spikes for the season. Senior Addie Danner, who will conclude her highschool career this weekend, said “I want to make the most of my last few practices and SWOC by trying my best and being in the moment”. Similarly, senior Thomas Harper expressed, “I really want to PR at SWOC but it’s a bit of a stretch after last week”, before adding “But I think I’m ready to push myself for SWOC and give all I can”. These statements reflect both the team and individual characteristics of the sport; in the end, the most effective way for each individual to contribute is by focusing internally, running their own race, and outperforming their past self.
And with the momentum that both the mens’ and womens’ teams have built up this fall, each teams’ top seven runners are looking beyond SWOC to the following week’s district championship. At this level, each team will seek to place in the top five teams of their race in order to move on to regionals — where the same selection process will determine which teams move on to the final OHSAA state championship.
“We are super competitive this year and one of the best teams talawanda has ever seen,” said Abra Mills, a member of the womens’ varsity lineup. “I’m proud of how hard the team has worked this entire season.”
The women’s team has dominated over most of the area’s competition, with several team victories among several other impressive placements. Mills and her teammates are determined to progress through the ranks of the post season and ultimately run together at Ohio’s state meet.
THS Girl’s XC, Photo Credit: Instagram @ths_boosters
Prospects for the mens’ team look fairly hopeful as well. The team is ranked third in their race at the district meet, meaning if they perform as predicted they will secure a spot at the regional meet as well — from there, a state qualification may be in the cards but is certainly not guaranteed.
THS Boy’s XC, Photo Credit: Instagram @ths_boosters
In the end, cross country proves to be a game of setting goals and simply going after them when it matters most. Although this process looks different for each of Talawanda’s runners, the team unity lies in the way that these runners band together every day to become the best version of themselves imaginable through the pursuit of improvement. The true sport is not so much about the times that decorate this weekend’s scoreboard, but about the months of companionship and support that made these accomplishments possible. This Saturday, as the Brave line up together at 9:15 am (womens’ race) and 9:45 (mens’ race), they will put this process to the test.
When you join the crowd at Harrison High School and cheer these runners to the finish line, take care to also appreciate the journey that brought them to the start line.
