The Woodford County High School girls’ cross country team and Blake Porter qualified for state at the regional meet Oct. 24 in Georgetown.
The Lady Jackets finished fifth as a team with 137 points, led by Avery Gill’s fifth-place finish. Porter placed 19th to qualify individually as Woodford’s boys finished ninth.
Gill completed the 5K race in 19:56.34 and acknowledged how tough the course was, especially after homecoming the night before.
“It was really tough, especially being so early,” Gill said. “Usually our races are at nine, so eight was really early after homecoming last night.”
The hills allowed Gill to compete.
“I like hard courses,” she said. “I felt like I was competitive, and I was able to just, like, fight.”
For coach Adam Swingle, preparation for regionals began with summer distance running and continued through the season with hill work, tempo runs and attention to race strategy.
“We’re doing a lot of mindset work as well,” Swingle said. “Making sure they know the right way to race the race.”
Gill said that mental preparation includes working through doubts before lining up against strong competition.
“You gotta tell yourself that, you know, you’re fast enough to run with them, and you can do it,” she said.
Her teammates provide motivation, too.
“It just kind of makes you want to run good for them,” Gill said.
Swingle said the girls entered the regional meet knowing a state berth was within reach.
“We knew coming in that the girls should be able to qualify,” he said. “They just had to go and run their races.”
Harmony Gampper finished 15th in 20:21.75, and Penny Oxnard placed 25th in 21:17.85.
Swingle praised Gill’s performance and said Gampper moved up considerably from her seed. He also lauded Oxnard’s progress throughout the season and Jacey Lyddane’s contribution at regionals.
Lyddane finished 42nd in 22:31.54, followed by Lucy Danks in 52nd in 23:40.36 to complete Woodford’s scoring five. Genevieve Cox placed 53rd in 23:53.84 and Ashlyn Dearinger finished 56th in 24:06.08.
“All the girls stepped up,” said Swingle, who praised Cox’s contribution and Dearinger’s improvement from season to season.
Porter led the boys with a time of 17:21.70 to secure his state berth.
“It’s a difficult course,” Porter said. “I mean, it’s pretty hilly. You can use the downhills, but then you gotta go right back up the hill, so it makes it pretty difficult.”
Porter described his race as “a decent performance” and said he pushed through after the second hill left him winded. During the race, he reminded himself to keep moving up through the field with a state berth in mind.
Oliver Cox finished 39th in 18:16.97, followed by Gavyn Burns in 55th in 19:04.41.
Swingle said Porter entered the meet with a strong chance to qualify individually. The boys competed with no seniors in their lineup, and late-season injuries kept some of their top runners out of the meet.
“But they stepped up big,” Swingle said.
Burns delivered a performance that stood out to his coach, setting a personal record on a course Swingle said rarely produces them.
“He had a phenomenal, phenomenal day,” Swingle said.
Liam Muniz finished 68th in 20:07.98 and Paxton Magruder placed 70th in 20:13.17 to round out the scoring runners. Julian Muniz finished 81st in 21:44.79, while Andrew Wellman placed 83rd in 21:56.50.
With a young boys’ lineup and eighth graders preparing to enter high school, Swingle sees opportunities to build depth in both programs.
“The future of our running looks bright,” he said. “We will have many returning runners as well as some bright stars coming up the middle school ranks.”