By Stephen Smoot
High school sports fall into two major categories. In the first group, teammates rely on each other. The team cannot win unless teammates can work together, support each other, and find a way to collectively come out on top at contest’s end.
In other sports, “me, myself, and I” have the onus of performance entirely on them. Only in cross country, however, does one compete alone, usually far from the cheering crowds that can motivate.
For the cross country runner, the opponent is oneself. Even more than runners seek to outperform each other, they also strive to outperform their own best. Footfall after footfall, heartbeat after heartbeat, finding the right pace to both run faster and maintain stamina and wind, those are the runner’s obstacles to overcome.
Around them, the distant noises of humanity and also the closer sound of birds, insects, the wind rustling the fallen leaves and pine branches dwell.
The season opened on August 30 in Upshur County at the Buckhannon-Upshur Invitational. One could not have asked for better temperatures for late August, hovering between 70 and 75 for much of the day with a light breeze and not a drop of rain in sight.
The meet brought in solid regional competition. Wildcat runners faced harriers from Ritchie County, North Marion, Preston, the hosts Buckhannon-Upshur, Lincoln (Harrison), Grafton, Doddridge County, Robert C. Byrd, Richwood, and Tucker County.
Sophomore Callie Dunn paced the Wildcat effort on the day with a 28:44.17 and finished 46th. She was followed by sophomore Allison Reuss, who placed 58 and set a season record at 30:56.86. Shayne Clutter, also a sophomore, ran for a 31:50.66, while Makayla Turner finished at 35:34.79.
A week later, the girls raced to South Harrison High School to compete in the Hawks Invitational against the host team, Lincoln (Harrison), Tucker County, Heritage Christian Academy, and Robert C. Byrd. Temperatures on this day dipped well below the normal high early September heat and humidity for the area as temperatures stayed around the mid to lower 60s.
Dunn ended her race in 13th place with a time of 26:02.20, setting a season record. Clutter came in four spots behind at 28:11.30, also setting a season record. Reuss placed 22nd at 31:36.10 and Turner set a time of 33:40.10.
One of the interesting aspects of cross country is that where a runner places may represent one of the least important numbers of the day. Dunn placed 46th in the opening race against a strong slate of squads. Just a week later, she ran two minutes faster, but her placement jumped into the top 15.
Another aspect to note lies in the courses. As in golf, each cross country course has its own unique design, its own challenges, and its own effect on each individual runner. Frankfort, for example, has a somewhat hilly course that serves as a solid challenge to runners there.
Meanwhile, Hampshire High School has much longer slopes at tougher angles that provide a difficult run for even expert harriers. Schools in the western part of the state may have much more relatively flat running courses that would seem relatively easier to runners better versed in mountain terrain.
On Sept. 9, the girls traveled across the North Branch to Broadford Lake Park in Maryland to compete against Mountain Ridge, Hampshire, Tucker County, Southern, Northern, Keyser, Allegany, Frankfort, Bishop Walsh, and Fort Hill.
Against a similarly tough slate of schools as at Buckhannon-Upshur. Dunn finished 28th with a personal record of 26:34.6 while Clutter placed 41st with a time of 29:27.4, also a personal record.
Last weekend, the team traveled to the Frankfort Invitational to enjoy another spectacularly cool day for the second weekend of September. Under brilliant blue skies, they ran against Mercersburg Academy, Washington, Frankfort, Allegany, Keyser, Spring Mills, and Bishop Walsh.
Dunn ran for 31st place and a time of 26:25.6. Reuss ran for 33:22.1 and placed 54th while Turner set a personal record on the difficult course at 33:33.1
Next, Pendleton County will compete at the Paul Clovis Invitational at Hampshire High School in Sunrise Summit.
