“Forget about everything else… this is an hour for you to only focus on cross country.” These words were the crux behind the mindset that coach Ben Bollinger-Danielson wanted to instill in the cross country team this Thursday as they raced in the Independent Metro Athletic Conference (IMAC) championships at Battle Creek Regional Park.
With the sun out, the temperature in the high 70s and the sidelines filled with supporters, the stage was set for an exciting race. The route, which was setup as a loop, included a hill with optimal views for the audience. The racers, who totaled to 191 across all six events, ranged from middle schoolers to high schoolers from across the IMAC, which encompasses Blake, Breck, Mounds Park Academy and Providence Academy.
On the girls side, senior Taylor Barkwell finished second out of 37 with a time of 19:56.1. Junior Maren Overgaard, ninth-grader Alyda Overgaard and senior Johanna Pierach finished in the top 20.
For the boys, senior Finn Miller-Fimpel finished 28th out of 42 with a time of 19:32.1, followed by seniors Isidor Valdez and Oliver Thompson, junior Jack Hickman and sophomore Aldegundo Brenneman finishing in the top 40.
The race was particularly special for Miller-Fimpel, who set his 12th grade personal record. Coming into the race, Miller-Fimpel’s mentality was to “just focus on running” and to “not think about anything else [he has] going on.” He believes that he was not alone in his intention; “I think the team mentality really reflected [mine],” Miller-Fimpel said, “We were really together, and took the race as an opportunity to stick together as a pack.”
Miller-Fimpel attributes the team’s unity to their pre-race habits. Before their races, the team runs warm ups with each other. “That is one of the best things for team mentality,” he said, “Not only can we discuss race strategies, but it also really helps us if we work together to get in that race mentality and support each other.”
The team, taking Bollinger-Danielson’s advice, left it all out on the course and finished 3rd out of the 5 schools in the IMAC. Over the next week, the runners aim to focus even more on cross country and community at practice as the section meet approaches on Oct. 22.
