[supsystic-gallery id=14]
By Simone Midgett, Staff Writer
The only thing you can feel are your nerves building, and then you hear the gun go off. This is when it all counts, when the pain that came from the countless hours all season, of running four to seven miles a day doesn’t bother you anymore.
The men’s and women’s cross country teams are racing in the NCHSAA 2A state championships Saturday. They head into the meets at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville after the men placed first in the region and the women took second. The men’s team is projected to place first in the state according to the NC Milesplit website.
They will be going head-to-head with North Lincoln High School from Lincolnton, the team that is projected to place second, and according to senior Kameron Midgett, North Lincoln isn’t the only top competitor First Flight will face after having a relatively easy time during the conference season.
“Throughout the year our biggest competition was within the team trying to beat our times and each other,” said Midgett, who is racing in his second state championship. “Then, moving into regionals and states, trying to beat the other teams like North Lincoln and Durham School of the Arts, really everyone is competition.”
Last year, senior Skylar Stultz placed eighth in the state championship and is projected to place eighth again this year with a time of 16 minutes, 20 seconds. Right behind Stultz is sophomore Zach Hughes, who is projected to place ninth with a time of 16:21.
While the FFHS women aren’t expected to compete for a team title, senior Alex Rodman is projected to place in the top six. The four-year track and cross country star has seen her teammates work for this shot at a title since the first day of practice in August.
“I think everyone’s mentality this year has just been a lot more focused on the end-season goal,” Rodman said, “which is for the guys to win states and for the girls to place really well, so our workouts have just been a lot more intense and everyone’s been really motivated.”
Going into such a big race, it’s important for the runners to train both physically and mentally. Hughes feels strongly about this going into states for his second year in a row: “Just thinking about running the race right and not overthinking it too much, we just have to do what we do best and just run.”
Not only do the Nighthawks focus on keeping themselves healthy, they watch out for each other as a team. State competitors for the men’s team this year will be Stultz, Hughes, Midgett, Hunter Snyder, Aidan May, Joe Davidson and Tyler Sylvia. Women’s competitors are Rodman, Jill O’Dell, Emma Byard, Camden Crook, Katie Gunzenhauser and Summer Banning.
“We push each other to get better in practice and out of practice,” Midgett said, “making sure we are all healthy and knowing what our goals are.”
The cross country team will be losing four seniors that are running at states, so Hughes said it’s important to make this year count.
“This year is a lot different because after this last cross country race, the season is just over. Seniors like Kam, Skylar, Alex, Hunter and others that won’t be here next year, so we have to make it count,” Hughes said.
Both teams already are proud of their achievements and how far they have made it within the conference and the region this year. Now all that remains is to try to improve on last year’s finishes: The men came in fourth and the women were sixth out of 16 teams.
“I think they are either going to win it or get second,” Rodman said of the men’s team. “Either way that’s just remarkable because we are First Flight High School, a small 2A school and no one expects us to do that in the cross country state championships. But they are all super motivated this year and they’ve had this goal in their mind and I think they are going to achieve it.”
Sophomore Simone Midgett can be reached at midgettsa0827@daretolearn.org.
