This past weekend the cross country team competed in its biggest meet of the season to date: the Olathe Twilight Meet. 40 different high school teams from neighboring states traveled to the Olathe District Activity Center to run a 5K race on Saturday, September 9.
The meet began at 6 p.m. with the c-team girls’ race and concluded at the end of the varsity boys’ race around 9:30. Athletes continued to run as the sun set, and bright stadium lights flickered on to illuminate the finish line at the football field.
“This is the first year I’ve been able to appreciate this course for what it is. Freshman year, I hated it because the course was so dark and uneven,” senior varsity runner Eve Snyder said. “And sophomore and junior year, I was fighting side stitches and was mainly running by myself.”
It was the varsity girls’ ability to stick together that helped Snyder enjoy the atmosphere of such an unusual meet.
“It was really fun to look over my shoulder and see Kate [Barland] and Landry [Clement] behind me. They motivate me to keep going, keep pushing, because they’re right there with me,” Snyder said.
Senior Audrey Schultz hopes that the girls’ varsity team can continue to strategize and run as a pack in future meets.
“I want us girls to pace together and pack in. I’m really hoping we can get under 22:00 and pack and do this all season,” Schultz said.
Multiple athletes placed high at Olathe Twilight. Freshman Jackie Welch placed second out of 255 athletes in the c-team race.
“I was always trying to pass people, which is super fun, especially when it’s dark out,” Welch said. “I started in ninth, then pulled through to first. That was cool because I’ve never been in first before. I stayed near the front and ended in second.”
Junior Max Larson placed fifth in the varsity boys’ race. His time of 15:00.80 seconds broke a Shawnee Mission South record.
Larson, along with fellow junior Liam Kirkpatrick and seniors Drew Morris and Andy Cooper, recorded an “Elite Time” in the varsity boys’ race. Each of their times met the qualification standards for the MileSplit US Second Team.
See Kansas Milesplit for a full list of official meet results.
