For what will be the second time in the last thirteen years, the girl’s cross-country team at Nome-Beltz is heading to Anchorage this weekend for State Championships. The Lady Nanooks qualified for the meet by narrowly beating the Barrow Whalers for the top spot in their region. Their coach, Jeff Collins, recalls the runner that clinched their spot at states.
“Going into Regionals, we knew it was going to be close, and we had Daynon Medlin, our fifth runner, another freshman, come out very big for her team,” Collins explained. According to Collins, he can always count on Medlin to “pass anyone that is near her” for the last 200 meters of the race.
But, as Collins explains, coming into the final stretch of the race against Barrow, Medlin wasn’t running at the pace she normally keeps.
“This time, I watched Daynon going in, and she was moving in slow motion, and I saw why,” Collins said: Medlin’s right side was covered in mud. Somewhere on the hill section of the course, she had fallen down. But what she did next really spoke to her character, Collins said. “Knowing that she had to do this for her team, she got back up and chased down Barrow’s fifth runner — and ended up passing her and also their fourth runner, too.”
Medlin’s finish at regionals is just one example of the toughness and strength of her team. Captain of the Lady Nanooks, Bianca Trowbridge, says the team’s talent runs deep, with four girls within a minute of each other and the fifth coming up on that. “So, it’s really solid,” Trowbridge said, “and we haven’t ever had that before.”
Although the boys just barely missed out on qualifying for states, making it only the second time in the last thirteen years that the team won’t be at the championships, they did help the Nanooks bring home a different award this season. The boys and girls team achieved the highest combined GPA in the region, with a 3.78, which coach Collins says is yet another demonstration of the strength and character of his runners.
The boy’s team will be sending three of its runners to compete individually this weekend. Harrison Moore, Wilson Hoogendorn, and Ben Cross qualified by placing among the top ten runners in the region. The 2015 Cross Country State Running Championships will take place this Saturday, October 3 at Bartlett High School in Anchorage.
