COLUMBUS — It wasn’t meant to be for two hopefuls at the OHSAA state cross country championship at Scioto Downs.
Victoria Holt represented Centerburg in the Division III girls race. She finished with a time of 20:56.8, good for 101st place. When she was done, she had a headache, and she was disappointed.
“The cold wind, coming down and hitting me in the face, it didn’t make it easy,” Holt said.
It wasn’t just the cold. Holt says the change in the weather affected her.
“There has been too much of a dramatic change from hot to cold in the weather. Practicing in one type of weather and running in another, it got to me,” Holt said.
For the first time, East Knox High School was represented at state, when Joey Montoya stepped on the course for the boys Division II race. When all was said and done, Montoya finished with a time of 17:10.1, good for a top 70 finish. Early in the race, he was as high as 12th. But as he started to slip back into the pack, emotions took over. By the time he had finished, he was disappointed.
“I felt great going out, then as it went on, I wasn’t focused in. I wasn’t with it mentally,” Montoya said.
Montoya says he had the idea that the pressure was off, because he had gone this far and he had nothing to lose. But his coach disagrees.
“Joey’s given everyone around at East Knox something to cheer for. We (East Knox) haven’t had a lot to cheer for lately. But the season he’s had has been a great accomplishment,” East Knox coach Ron Fannin said.
“I made it to state. It’s the way every senior wants to end it,” Montoya said.
