Saturday, November 3rd, the Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country teams competed in the State Meet and took the first place finish for the girls’ race.
Brenna Tipton became the first individual girls’ cross country state champion in school history. There was a lot of pressure being one of, if not the favorite to win going in. Though, Brenna had a mindset for herself to combat the pressure.
“I try to tell myself that…my friends, my family will be proud of me anyway,” said Tipton.
Brenna also said that winning was rewarding, and that the hard work paid off. Though not only is she a state champion, but a state champion as a sophomore. Which can put even more pressure on her for her junior and senior years, but Brenna said that she will have one goal in mind, but also, that every year is different.
“I want to be a back to back state champion, but I know not to get my hopes up because of incoming freshman or other runners developing,” said Tipton.
Photo courtesy of Coach Farrow. (Andrew Pennybacker)
Despite being a big stage, the team didn’t change their prep or thought process.
“We are approaching this the same as any other race. Go out, run relaxed and compete,” said head Boys’ Coach Ricky Moore.
The team overall has had a pretty successful season, especially considering that they are so young.
“The team has done very well this season. We are a young team…but we have performed well at most of the meets this year,” said Coach Moore.
On the individual side, sophomore Rylan Moore had a very solid sophomore season.
“I’ve been doing pretty well, just trying to stay consistent,” said Moore.
Rylan’s goal for the state meet was to finish in the top ten, which he accomplished with a ninth place finish. A top four finish was the goal for the team, and there were several runners that had a goal of finishing all state. The team finished in sixth place, and joining Rylan with a top fifteen finish was sophomore Tyler Bishop in thirteenth.
Although the boys didn’t have the finish to the season that they wanted, they are only losing two seniors, and have a bright future ahead. Then on the girls side, they also are a pretty young team, and although as a team they also may not have had the state tournament showing that they hoped for, they still all went home happy, with new experiences, and with a teammate and friend with a state championship plaque.
