During the first meet of the Wheeling Park Cross Country season, senior Seth Franke set a remarkable time of 15:51.24 to claim the second-fastest time in school history in St. Mary’s, WV.

“When I came through the mile (4:57) I felt like I was on pace to run faster than I did last year,” said Franke on at what point in the race he knew he was going to set a sub-16 second race. “Halfway through the race I really didn’t think I was on pace to set the time that I set. But the last mile I really picked it up because it is flatter and faster.”

“Top tier,” said cross country coach Mr. Galik, on how he would describe his senior runner’s work ethic. “There is no luck when it comes to cross country. You get what you earn and Seth never misses a run. We’ve never had a guy in the decade-plus I’ve been doing this get to the volume that he’s getting every week and those things really show up on race day.”

In the following meets, Franke has finished 7th out of 252 runners in Pickerington, OH, and 7th out of 243 runners in White Oak, PA.

While Franke finished 3rd in St. Mary’s, the team as a whole placed second, with notable finishes from juniors Redick Moore and Isaak Nizami.

“University is clearly the best team in the state. But, after that, there are four teams that could finish runner-up at the state meet, so we just need everyone to keep working like we are and good things will continue to happen,” said Coach Galik on what expectations he sets on his team after these encouraging results.

Upcoming Meets:

Sep. 16     Red, White and Blue Invit.

Sep. 28     Wheeling Park Fall Classic

Oct. 07     OVAC

Oct. 19     Regional Meet

Oct. 28     WV AAA Championships