PATASKALA — The Fredericktown cross country team members are a different breed.
When the weather turns bleak, that’s when the Freddies run their best.
Saturday, a rainy morning turned the Watkins Memorial course into a muddy mess, perfect conditions for the Freddies, who advanced both the boys and girls teams to regional competition. The Freddie girls team finished as district runner-up, while the boys squad finished third in the Division III District competition at Watkins.
“I’m real happy with that. I thought we had a good shot (to get both teams out of districts), but I didn’t think we would run as well as we did,” said Fredericktown coach Bob Geiger. “The kids like running in the mud. The muddier and nastier it is, the better we run.
“I think it’s the mentality of the team. When the going gets nasty, we rally around each other. The nastier it gets, the more fun we have.”
The Freddie girls team followed the 1-2 punch of Sarah Fowler and Emily Roberts to its second-place finish with 51 points. Mount Gilead won the District title with 44.
Fowler won the race in impressive style, finishing the 5-kilometer course in 19:58.35. Roberts came in second at 20:26.82.
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