Lady Cubs advance to regionals after third-place district finish
SEYMOUR— The Olney High School Cross Country Team inched closer to the state meet after taking third at district.
Each of the Lady Cubs’ runners finished in the top 25 and nearly completed their goal, besting Seymour on its home turf.
“We did really well,” said Olney sophomore runner Anahi Marquez, who finished ninth. “At the beginning, everyone was really tired, then we just pushed it and did really well.”
Although cross country is often viewed as an individual sport, the Lady Cubs had a team-oriented gameplan heading into Wednesday’s race. Instead of front running, and tiring before the finish line, the Lady Cubs packed together and set the tone of the race.
“Being in a pack helps,” senior runner Kodee Scott said. “We respond together, we push each other and it helps us focus as a group. Just like any other sport, it takes a team to get through it.”
Marquez was the first Olney runner to cross the finish line (14:41), followed by Abbey Harrison (11th/14:48), Scott (12th/14:49) ,Kiarra Owen (18th/15:22), Baylee Young (19th/15:25), Leslie Acuna (20th/15:33) and Marisol Marquez (21st/15:36), with a combined score of 53.
Munday finished first with 32, followed by Seymour’s 51, which the Lady Cubs consider a great sign considering Seymour bested them by only 2 points on their home course.
“This is the closest we’ve ever got to Seymour,” Marquez said. “This is a really big accomplishment for us. That is all we’ve been doing is try to beat Seymour on their home course. We almost got second.”
The Lady Cubs return to action Saturday, when they travel south for the regional meet in Grand Prairie. Olney coach Dickie Scott believes his ladies have the talent to make it to the state meet and the course at Grand Prairie caters to their talents.
“It’s flat. It plays to our advantage because we do not do any hill work,” Dickie Scott said. “[Seymour] is the only course we have where we have a hill. The regional is flat and state is flat ... Why train hills for big races that do not have hills?”
Considering the Lady Cubs’ second-best runner, senior Marisol Marquez, placed 21st despite working through a leg injury, Scott believes his team will do well Saturday.
“We put all seven girls in the top 21,” Scott said. “Out of 13 spots, we had seven of them and that is good. We packed all seven girls in less than a minute ... My three runner (Marisol Marquez) was my seven runner and she has been fighting a knee problem. If she runs where she is supposed to, then we’re only 10 points behind Munday and that closes the gap quite a bit.”