BY TAYLOR GIORDULLO
The starting gun sounded and suddenly a blur of runners sprinted off, making their way through the 3.1 mile-long course. Towards the front of the group, there were a number of boys running close together, all wearing the same two colors:
blue and gold.
- The boy’s Cross Country team claimed first place at Regionals on October 29th.
The Mariemont boys cross country team has been performing exceptionally well this year, claiming first place titles at both the CHL and Districts meets. The reason behind their success: the close proximity of their times.
“The top five runners at Districts were only 16 seconds apart,” says Jeff Timmers, the coach of both the boys and the girls teams. “That is something that is rarely seen.”
The placing at Districts was also high, the top five boys finishing in places 3rd through 7th. Some of the boys, such as freshman Cooper Hayes and senior Bryan Routt, finished within only milliseconds of each other.
Timmers believes that this solid pack of runners was created through hard work at practice throughout the season.
“The workouts have been tougher this year,” he states. “We have a solid base of juniors and seniors who have been running for a long time, and they lead the team.”
Nathan “Nay-Nay” Kuck, a junior who has run throughout high school, agrees with Timmer’s speculation.
“During practice we want to stay together,” he says. “We push each other to run faster.”
Kuck is very pleased with the outcome of the season so far and he has high hopes as they progress further into the season.
Timmers also has great expectations for the rest of the cross country season. For those who have attended any of the meets, they may have noticed him wearing a full-on suit, complete with a tie and jacket. While this may seem like an odd choice of apparel for a cross country coach, Timmers shares the story behind it.
“Last year we did not make it to State as a team,” he says. “So at the beginning of this season Ben Gorman’s dad, Steve Gorman, said we had some ‘unfinished business’ to take care of, so immediately the idea of the suit popped into my head.”
On Saturday, at the Regional Meet, the team took care of this business. Not only did they qualify for State, but they won first place overall, making them Regional Champions.
Nathan Kuck, Emmett Saunier, and Ben Gorman were in the top 16 overall, finishing in 7th, 10th, and 15th. The team will be heading to a course just outside of Columbus this weekend to compete in the State meet.
“The team has exceeded my preseason expectations,” says Timmers.
