Pressure. That’s what the girls regional cross country meet at Boardman on Saturday represents for the area’s participants.

For all, there’s the pressure to succeed. For some, there’s the pressure to gain valuable experience for the future. And for a select few, there’s the pressure to live up to past successes.

The prize waiting at the finish line for a lucky few will be a trip to the state cross country meet at Scioto Downs in Columbus next Saturday.

Edgewood’s Mallory Kreider and the Perry team, led by Abbie Clifford and Marissa Baranauskas, are facing the difficult task of qualifying for the state meet for at least the second time.

“I don’t feel pressured by other people,” Kreider said. “But I do feel pressured by myself. This is my last time at Boardman and I really want to do well. Boardman is such a traditional cross country course.

“It’s said this is my last time (running there). I really want to make my mark and take advantage of my last opportunity to run there. But I don’t feel pressured. I’m more excited than pressured.”

“Really, at this point, it’s do-or-die,” Clifford said. “If you don’t give your all, if you all don’t run the best race of your life, you don’t get to Columbus. The goal is for us to do the best we can so the team can advance to state.”

Others, like the Jefferson team, paced by Hannah Francis, Sam Morford and Brooke Orvos, Conneaut’s Jennifer Oxley, the Warriors’ Juliana Simmons, Geneva’s Alyssa Nieset and Pymatuning Valley’s Ami Turner, are all seeking their first trip to Columbus.

Action begins with the Division III girls at 11:05 a.m. with a race starting every 45 minutes until the final race of the day – the D-I boys – which starts at 2:50 p.m.

In each division, the top four teams and individuals among the top 16 not on qualifying for the state meet.



Teams

n Perry – The Pirates are seeking to reach Columbus for the second consecutive year. They qualified out of the Division II Lakeland district in fourth place. However, the Pirates ran that race without Rachael Greuber and Angelica Zampini, two of their top five runners.

With one or even both of those two possibly running at Boardman, the Pirates get a shot of confidence.

“The whole reason they all race is for each other,” Perry coach Bill Sarvis said. “They all have the same goal and that’s to get to Columbus, no matter what the lineup looks like. They’re all pretty selfless. We’ll put out the seven best athletes that give us a chance to win.

“They all understand that and they seem to respect that. That’s what makes a good team great. Everyone is there for the same cause.

“(Getting the two girls back) will raise their emotions. It’s tough to lose someone. We were seven points out of second place and they realize we did that without our No. 3 runner. We were right there. I’d like to believe adding Rachael, and possibly Angelica, we’ll take another step up. That’s exciting. I hope it raises everyone up.”

“The team is really close,” Clifford said. “Our saying has been ‘The strength of the wolf is the pack.’ It will definitely help us if all of our runners are healthy. Without them, it’s different. It helps us when they’re there.”

Perry knows that, at this point, it’s not a good physical race that will carry them back to Columbus. They know a strong mental race is their ticket to the state meet.

“We need to focus right now on our mental attitude,” Clifford said. “If we focus on having the best race possible, the rest will take care of itself.”

Running for the Pirates will be a combination of seven from a pool of Clifford, Baranauskas, Greuber, Zampini, Ally Nelson, Kristin Ludwick, Ashley Adamik, Emily Brainard, Jackie Tenney and Mary Wills.

One of the Pirates’ strengths going into the regional meet is that they are not a group easily intimidated by strong competition or adversity. That should go a long way toward the team’s goal of placing in the top four.

“We’ve seen (that they don’t back down),” Sarvis said. “They’re not going to back down from an opponent. I’d like to believe that’s because they have had to deal with adversity. If somebody has an off day or is out, another girl steps into that position. They don’t want to let the team down.

“It helps that they are all eyeing the same prize. They want it so badly, they’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

In order to advance as a team, Perry doesn’t have to do anything out of the ordinary for them.

“We need everyone to run the way they’re capable of,” Sarvis said. “I don’t think they need to go out and do something they necessarily haven’t done. They don’t have to take risks or run out of their minds.

“We need to have a strong race from our front runners and keep our four through seven runners in a pack. If we continue to do what we do, we’ll have a shot. It will be a barnburner, though.”

Clifford, Baranauskas and Greuber all have realistic shots to advance to Columbus as individuals should the team fall short of its goal.

n Jefferson – This is the first trip back to the regional meet for the Falcons girls since Gary Thaxton took a team there in 2003.

“I hope the girls realize that it’s been a long time,” Thaxton said. “It’s been very difficult. It’s something you learn to appreciate because you’ve been absent for so long. It’s taken a lot of hard work and a lot of effort.”

For the Falcons to reach Columbus as a team, each of them has to have a great race.

“Obviously, our regional is one of the hottest ones in the state. Our goal is going to be going out and running one of the best races of the year and try to close the gap between our first and fifth person. That’s all we can ask at this point in time.”

Running for the Falcons will be Francis, Morford, Orvos, Nicole Dallas, Joelle Eskelin, Summer Pacholke and Dayna Stevens.

Francis will also be running for a chance to compete in Columbus.

“She has a shot,” Thaxton said. “She has to run the race of her life and everything has to fall into place. Hopefully, she runs the best race of her career and she squeaks in there. She has to be in the top 16 and that’s what she’s shooting for.”



Individuals

n Mallory Kreider, Edgewood, Division II – Kreider is seeking a third trip to Columbus and is facing her fourth, and final, regional competition. But she is taking nothing for granted.

“I’m definitely hoping to get one of those precious 16 spots,” Kreider said. “(The regional) is a stepping stone to state. Hopefully, I’ll get to the next level. It’s all about the number 16.”

Kreider is at the point in her season where all the tinkering and all the learning are done.

“I hope to get down there (to Columbus),” Kreider said. “I’m not going to try anything new. I’ll just go out and do what we’ve practiced all season. I’m excited to run against a great group of girls. I’m really excited to race this weekend.”

Kreider has run every kind of race she and coach Steve Hill could think of in preparing herself for this meet and the state meet. The knowledge she’s gained will only help her to survive.

“We’ve tried running a lot of races differently,” Kreider said. “We focused on different key points of races. That gives me confidence. No matter how a race goes out, whether it’s fast or slow, I’ve ran a race like it.

“I know my ability. No matter how a race goes out, I’ve ran one like it. It helps me because my body knows it can handle all the different techniques.”

n Juliana Simmons, Edgewood, Division II – Having a teammate in the race can only help Simmons, who has steadily moved up the ladder throughout the course of the season.

“It’s great for both of them,” Hill said. “When Mallory was first in the program, she didn’t have anybody she was close to. Juliana has experienced a lot with Mallory. It helps to have somebody to talk to the day of the race.

“Last year, in both cross country and track, Mallory had Juliana with her. Juliana has been there every step of the way. Juliana is like a sponge and she’s learned a huge amount of information from Mallory along the way. That’s put her in the position she’s in and why she has the opportunity to run at the regional.”

To advance, Simmons needs to run a great race, which is possible because Simmons has a track record of success at Boardman.

“She’ll have to have a great race, not just a good race,” Hill said. “Her main focus is going to be the girl that finished in front of her at the district meet. She has an outside shot to get there.

“Juliana loves the course at Boardman. It will be good to see how she performs. She’s only a sophomore and this is an opportunity to get experience that could help her in the long run. She ran her best race at Boardman, so it’s possible she’ll have a great race.”

n Alyssa Nieset, Geneva, Division II – Nieset qualified for the regional in the 20th and final spot at Lakeland. Only a sophomore, Boardman will be a valuable learning experience.

“It might be a little harder for her,” Geneva coach Walt Lininger said. “It depends on her outlook. She knows state is not a big option. For her, it’s about getting better for next season. This will be a lesson for her to use to get stronger.”

Youth might be an asset for Nieset, who doesn’t really see the regional as anything but just another meet.

“At school, they were all telling me congratulations,” Nieset said. “I realized this was a lot more important than I thought it was. This really is a big deal.

“This feels like just another race to me. I’m sure it won’t at Boardman, but today it feels like it’s just another race coming up on Saturday.”

Nieset wants to make sure she finds the right pace for herself.

“I’m just looking to do the best I possibly can,” she said. “My goal Saturday is to get to a point where my body is not really comfortable, but I know I can push through it.”

n Ami Turner, PV, Division III – Turner’s big goal for the season was to qualify for the regional meet. She did that in impressive fashion, setting a personal best time by 20 seconds. Now, it’s about enjoying the moment.

“For her, the big goal was to get out of district,” PV coach Shauna Bryan said. “Whatever she goes out and accomplishes on Saturday is in addition to the goal.

“Now she needs to go out and have fun. She had a lot of heart at district and she’ll need to show that again on Saturday.”

Turner’s running style just might be the type of style that will make it an interesting race for her at Boardman.

“I like to watch her run,” Bryan said. “She’s a climber. No matter how she starts, she’s constantly moving up. She doesn’t fall back much at all. She has the mental strength to pick people off through the race. That’s important at a race like the regional.”

n Jennifer Oxley, Conneaut, Division II – Oxley will use the race to not only try and qualify for the state meet, but also to learn.

“I hope she’s looking to be in the top 16,” Conneaut coach Jim Rehmer said. “If (she doesn’t reach that), it will still be a learning experience. She’s still a sophomore. Hopefully, (what she learns) will kick in and she’ll be that much more determined.”

In preparation, Oxley has tried to improve her speed over the course of the past week.

“We’ve been doing a lot of speed work this week,” Rehmer said. “We’re trying to pick up the tempo a little bit.”