On November 3, 2021, Midlo’s Cross Country team competed in the 5A Region C Cross Country Regional Championship at Pole Green Park. With a slight breeze, but otherwise perfect weather conditions, the runners would soon encounter a course with challenging terrain that matched the stiff competition they would face.

When the first starting gun of the day sounded, the Varsity Girls sprinted off the start line in an effort to grab the lead as their success in this race meant that they would go on to compete at the State Meet. The team consisted of Gabriella Garcia, Kylie Bonser, Nicole Quiram, Addison Rodal, Megan Lamberson, Elise Graves and Kate Lowe. As soon as the race began, Garcia and Bonser secured a spot upfront, which gave them a favorable position for an impressive finish. Garcia managed to finish first overall with a narrow twenty-second lead. Less than a minute later, Bonser sprinted across the finish line to secure third place. Close behind, Quiram and Rodal crossed the line for a seventeenth and nineteenth place finish respectively. Shortly after, Lamberson crossed the line to finish in thirty-first place with Graves not far behind in thirty-fourth place. Finally, Lowe rounded out the team, completing the race in thirty-fifth place. Gabriella Garcia, the 2021 Region 5C Cross Country Individual Champion, shares that she is proud of all her teammates who stepped up and she is “looking forward to States.”

The next gun to go off started the boys race. The team consisted of Porter Clark, Jack Laser, CJ Mierchuk, Cameron Reeve, Brooks Weeks, Carter Ward and Owen Widrick. During the race, Clark positioned himself well right at the start, allowing him to ultimately place twenty-second, just missing the mark to qualify individually for States. Behind Clark were Laser and Mierchuk who finished in thirty-first and thirty-fourth place. Just behind them were Reeve and Weeks who fought until the end for forty-first and forty-second place. To round off the team, Ward finished in forty-fourth place and Widrick in fifty-fifth. CJ Mierchuk remarks on the resilience that his teammates showed and their ability to run for each other even though “it may not have been the result [the team] had hoped for at the beginning of the season.” The boys team now looks for a successful indoor track season during the winter months.

In addition to the varsity races, the Regional Championship also included a junior varsity race with runners from the 4B and 5C region. Though the junior varsity race came without any State qualifications, the event gave athletes a final chance to race prior to the end of the season. Before the 4A Region B Cross Country Championship, also held at Pole Green Park, the athletes in the junior varsity race toed the line and were eager to compete for the last time. On both the girls’ and boys’ sides, six athletes raced and were able to finish their season strong for an overall team finish of sixth and ninth place.

After the races had concluded, the awards ceremony began. In the team competition, the Midlo Varsity Girls capitalized on their hard work this season by placing third; the Midlo boys finished seventh in the team competition. On Saturday, November 13, 2021, the Midlo Varsity Girls will compete in the VHSL Class 5A Cross Country State Championships at Great Meadows.