Both cross-country teams competed at the 58th annual New Prairie Invitational on Sept. 20. This race features the toughest course of the entire cross-country season for Logansport athletes. Since this course was the toughest, it really pushed athletes to their fundamental core of mental and physical toughness.
The meet featured over 100 schools on Saturday. Within the meet, Logansport placed in 17th place with a score of 439 for the boys junior varsity reserved race. In the girls JV race, Logansport placed 16th with a score of 498 points. For the boys varsity AAA race, they also placed 17th with a score of 481, while the girls varsity AAA placed 19th with a score of 494.
Coach Kailin Bauman highlights how the course was more of added mileage and effort.
“The girls had an incredible week of training,” Bauman said. “Last week and this week are our highest mileage and effort weeks of the season. The hardest part is physical; they shouldn’t have been able to run to the best of their ability. It’s not realistic to PR (personal record) every week, especially not after the hard effort we put in.”
Senior Eric Garcia puts this into even more perspective. One of the elements of the course makes the course even tougher.
“After Agony Hill, you basically run outside the forest and you’re just in the sun for like a half a mile,” Garcia said. “That’s probably the worst part, because you just ran Agony Hill. Your legs are dead. You’re tired, and then you have to be in the sun for like half a mile.”
There is also a “snake pit,” which is a fast downhill section of the course.
“It’s fun, but don’t trip,” Garcia said. “That’s the one thing. If you trip, you will die. If you do trip, though, you’re gonna get stepped on.”
Sophomore Yarictza Sanchez-Olmos realizes that after this tough course, she now has new limits to reach.
“I feel as though my performance was the best it could be, and I pushed my body to the fullest, knowing how tough the course was,” Sanchez-Olmos said.
Coach Cole Jackson puts into words the parts of the course that really tested the grit and mental toughness of our athletes.
“The course has three distinct areas that every runner needs to be prepared for,” Jackson said. “The beginning is flat but very crowded, and our runners need to be aware of their surroundings or risk being tripped and run over. The next part is the woods. The path becomes very narrow, congested and very hilly, and the last part is wide open. There aren’t a lot of spectators out there, so our guys need to stay mentally tough through the finish.”
