NC dominates at Glen Legler cross country running meet
Sportsmanship among teams: The mustang cross country team includes runners from Torrington in their cheer before the JV boys’ race on September 27, 2019. The cheer is led by senior Chris Finch. Finch said the mustangs had never met the runners from Torrington ever before, but they wanted to be included so the mustangs let them join the huddle.
October 7, 2019
NC hosted and participated in the Glen Legler cross country running meet at the Paradise Valley Golf Club on September 27, 2019. NC Mustangs and Fillies didn’t let the cold, rainy weather stop them from putting on an impressive showing winning almost category including both the varsity girls and boys team categories.
The JV girls’ race was the first race of the day. In this race freshman Harmanee Geddie won the first victory of the day for NC. Geddie said her strategy for the race was to “take off kind of fast at the beginning, keep the pace throughout and sprint at the end.”
The first victory of the day:
NC freshman Harmanee Geddie sprints into the finish to win the first race of the meet at the PV golf club on September 27, 2019. After her race Geddie received a hug from her proud coach Becky Sondag.
Geddie said her favorite part about racing cross country running for NC is the the team. “The team is awesome. They’re like family.” Throughout the race the team encouraged Geddie to keep going and “at one point all of the boys came up to me and started yelling in my face like ‘Go!’ and I’m like ‘Ok!’”
Also in the top ten of the JV girls’ race were senior Cristel Hand in fourth, sophomore Makenzie Anderson in fifth, senior Cassi Crossen in eighth, senior Jamie Cameron in ninth, and sophomore Taylor Atchley in tenth.
The second race of the day was the JV boys’ race. In this race NC junior Josh Sieving came in first. Sieving was joined in the top ten of this race by sophomore Dylan Brenton in fourth, sophomore Easten Bowers in eighth, and sophomore Kolby Parker in tenth.
Before the JV boys race, the Mustangs demonstrated what true sportsmanship looks like by including runners from the Torrington team in their huddle. Senior Chris Finch, the team’s “spirit captain,” led the Mustangs and Blazers in a cheer to get them excited to race.
During his senior season Finch said he hopes to teach the freshmen on the team “what it means to work hard for something you love and how to have a great time doing it.”
The next race was the varsity girls. NC Fillies dominated in this race with the top three runners all being Fillies. These three were sophomore Hailie Wilhelm in first, senior Madyson Willis in second and sophomore Delilah Baedke in third. Sophomore Reagan Lake in seventh, and junior Kiana Hiser in eighth were the two other Fillies to take top ten spots in this race.
Wilhelm said that her goals going into the the race were to win and achieve a personal record, and it felt great to achieve them both. Her goal for the girls x-country running team this year is to try to win state again. Her goal for herself is run a race in less than 19 minutes. When asked what her favorite part about running for NC is, Wilhelm also said, “the team.”
The final race of the day was the varsity boys’ race. NC senior Mason Henry won this race. Sophomore Ethan Bauer took fourth, junior Caleb Sunquist took sixth, and freshman Jack Diaz took tenth in this race.