BY TAYLOR GIORDULLO
The State Cross Country Meet is one of the biggest state-wide high school sporting events, having hosted over 10,000 spectators in 2010. This year, a large group of Mariemont students, parents, and even teachers were an addition to the crowd, all there to support the boy’s team.
The cross country runners continued their streak of excellent post-season performance at this meet, exceeding everyone’s expectations.
“We were supposed be in the bottom half according to the coaches’ poll,” notes Senior Bryan Routt. However, the boys proved this prediction false on Saturday, placing third in the state meet.
“As a team we couldn’t be happier, having six of our seven runners get a PR (personal record) in the same race is great,” states Routt.
According to the runners, what made the team enjoy their victory even more was the large number of fans that came to Columbus to watch them compete.
“The meet was much more fun to run in with lots of people supporting us,” Routt proclaims.
One such fan was sophomore Abby Moreton, who was among the crowd of Mariemont supporters at State.
“I’ve been to three meets this season,” says Moreton. “I went to CHL, Regionals, and State.”
While cross country is typically not a sport that produces a large fan base, this year Mariemont has been an exception to this rule. An entire Spirit Bus of fans drove the two hours to the National Trail Raceway to cheer on the boys in their race.
“I like it more than other sporting events,” states Moreton. “It’s more interactive; you have to run from place to place and get to cheer loudly for each runner.”