Woodford County High School cross country competed in the KHSAA state championship at the Kentucky Horse Park on Halloween morning.
There were some big performances and personal bests from the Woodford runners.
Harmony Gampper broke 20 minutes, Penny Oxnard reached both of her race goals and Blake Porter closed his season with a personal record
Gampper led the seven-runner girls’ team with a 38th place finish in 19:44.24. Porter, Woodford’s lone runner in the boys’ race, finished 72nd in 16:58.56.
For coach Adam Swingle, the excitement came from watching his runners pursue individual goals on a course that challenged them with hills and crowded stretches.
“Exciting, I think, is the simple word,” Swingle said. “Sometimes we come into the state meet and being here is our goal.”
Swingle challenged his runners during the week to decide what they wanted to accomplish once they reached the starting line.
“They all let me know what their goals were, and they worked hard towards them,” he said.
Gampper’s target was to finish in less than 20 minutes. She cleared that mark by more than 15 seconds, working through a packed field and a series of climbs to lead the Yellow Jackets.
“It was pretty hard. It was really hilly,” Gampper said. “There’s a couple big hills, and you just have to keep going up them.”
Finding room to move was another part of the challenge. With runners competing for the same space, Gampper said she had to stay with the flow of the race while looking for openings.
“You just kind of gotta keep going with the crowd and try to keep moving,” she said.
Her preparation also included time spent in prayer. Gampper said she focused throughout the week on her relationship with God and asked for help getting through the race.
“This whole week, I’ve been really focusing on my relationship with God,” she said. “That’s really showed me how much He’s really with me.”
Avery Gill was Woodford’s next finisher, placing 72nd in 20:23.72. Oxnard followed in 83rd in 20:34.88, giving the Yellow Jackets three runners among the top 100.
Oxnard entered the meet with two specific goals and accomplished both.
“I set a goal to get sub-21, and I got that goal,” Oxnard said. She also wanted to finish among the first 100 runners. Her 83rd-place finish put her comfortably inside that target.
“It was really exciting,” Oxnard said. “The course was really hilly, but it felt really good.”
Getting to that point took work throughout the season. Asked how she handled the demands of cross country, Oxnard pointed to training hard, staying hydrated and eating well.
“I hydrate. I eat some good food,” she said.
Jacey Lyddane finished 145th in 21:43.13. Her experience illustrated how much a runner’s outlook can change between previewing a course and competing on it.
Lyddane visited the course the day before the championship and left with some doubts about what awaited her. The hills stood out, and she was initially not confident about the race.
By the time she competed, however, she felt better prepared mentally.
“Honestly, I felt pretty locked in, and it was a good experience,” Lyddane said.
“I wasn’t too confident about it, but today, my mindset was good.”
Lucy Danks finished 210th in 23:11.92, Ashlyn Dearinger placed 215th in 23:19.43 and Genevieve Cox finished 227th in 23:43.62. Woodford’s first five finishers combined for 476 team points.
In the boys’ race, Porter expected a difficult test and finished with a personal best.
“It was great,” Porter said. “I went out there, knowing it was going to be difficult.”
He kept pushing throughout the race, first working to find space in the crowded opening stretch.
“It was tight, especially at the beginning, so you kind of had to find the gap and work your way through,” Porter said.
Once through that traffic, the hills presented another test. Porter said he had to attack the climbs and use the downhill stretches to gain ground and move ahead of other runners.
The finish required another push. With a slight uphill grade and competitors beside him, Porter knew the final stretch would demand everything he had left.
“You know it’s going to be an all-out battle till the finish,” he said.
His 16:58.56 gave him a personal record and a result he was thankful to carry into the off-season.
“Very satisfied,” Porter said. “Got a PR to finish off the season.”
For Swingle, the performances offered encouragement about what comes next for Woodford’s program.
“The future’s bright,” he said. “The future’s very bright.”