EDMOND – The Watonga Lady Eagles finished third in the 2A team standings at the 2021 OSSAA State Cross Country Meet this past Saturday, Oct. 30, remaining among the state’s elite despite graduating three top runners this spring.
Freshman Reese Coleman paced the Lady Eagles with a fifth-place finish Saturday, turning in a time of 12:28.96 at the meet held at Edmond Santa Fe High School.
Hooker won the state championship by placing two runners inside the top five – Hollie Stalder in second place and Isabella Neville in fourth. Laverne’s Kamryn Baggs won the girls’ meet, running 2 miles in 12:06.95. Boise City’s Sarah Brown finished third to round out the top five.
Boise City also finished second overall, followed by Watonga, Laverne and Chelsea.
The rest of Watonga’s team finished as follows on Saturday:
• Landri Hussey, 26th, 13:34.33
• Shelby Miller, 42nd, 14:03.84
• Jaidon Turney, 73rd, 14:43.83
• Julien Roman Nose, 74th, 14:44.11
• Piper Gallagher, 112th, 15:27.48
• Ady Hightower, 141st, 17:17.62
“(Reese) is a little disappointed,” Coach Jim Bob Coleman said after the meet. “She had a couple girls beat her that hadn’t beat her this year. But I just told her, some days you have it and some days you don’t. Use it as motivation for the future. But she ran well, she ran probably one of her fastest times, if not her fastest time all season. You can’t fault a kid for doing their best.”
Coleman said his goal for the State meet was to place inside the top three, especially after seeing Boise City’s success at Regionals last week, and the Lady Eagles accomplished that.
Five of the seven girls who ran at State will return to the team next year, Coleman said. He also hopes for a rejuvenated boys program with middle school students coming up.
Despite her disappointment Saturday, Coleman said he and Reese will reevaluate and get ready for another run at the title next season. “As a freshman, she’s got three more chances to do what she wants at a State meet,” he said.