Cross country notebook: Crouse, Canaday emerge from injuries

Oct. 27—Eric Lawson knew his Shady Spring cross country teams were going to be young, with no seniors among the boys or girls.

Among the freshmen he would be counting on was Bre Crouse, who was coming in with big credentials. She was last year's Raleigh County middle school champion as an eighth-grader, capping off a three-year run with her third top-five finish.

Unfortunately, the start of Crouse's high school career was a bit delayed. A member of Flipstarz Gymnastics since she was 3, a false landing left her with an injury that kept her from the first two weeks of practice in August.

"I was doing a back flip on the beam and I landed really wrong, and it tore my plantar fascia," Crouse said.

The injury happened in early June and required her to wear a walking boot for five weeks. Even after shedding the boot, walking without pain remained difficult. So Beckley physical therapist Dr. Richard Wooton was able to get Crouse in and begin the road to recovery.

"I still wasn't cleared to run the first two weeks of practice," she said. "The third week I could start doing warmups and cooldowns, and by the fourth I would slowly build back up to what (her teammates) were doing."

Crouse was still fighting soreness, but finally made her high school debut Sept. 9 at the Knights Crossing Invitational in Salem, Va., the Tigers' third meet of the season. She completed the race with a time of 24:47.80.

Maybe not the time she wanted, but she was happy just to be competing again.

"I was really eager to get back running and it killed me not to run these races," Crouse said. "I got the OK from the PTs so I decided to do it, really out of shape. And it was hot. So I did not do as well as I probably, definitely, could have."

But she would progress weekly, and her performance at the Shady Spring Invitational Oct. 7 at Little Beaver State Park brought excitement all around. She finished third behind winner Neena McClintic of Greenbrier East and runner-up, teammate Gwynn McGinnis. Crouse's time was 21:58.05.

It was the first time this season that Crouse felt like herself.

"Being back to running like I could made me really happy and positive, and just strive to keep going." she said.

The team took a break from competition toward the end of the season, a period Lawson calls "heck week," designed to build mental toughness as well as endurance.

Crouse came out of that well and ready to take on the remaining meets.

"From the start, once she got ready and once she was healthy and ready to roll, it was going to be a different animal from what people had seen already," Lawson said.

"She just came out ripping and roaring, typical competitive Bre that she is. She's a competitor. She's got the heart of a champion and she won't quit, that's for sure."

And it only got better. At last week's Class AA Region 3 meet, again on her home course, Crouse ran to a second-place finish with a time of 21:49.6, slightly less than five seconds behind champion Jenna Brown of Herbert Hoover.

"That meant a lot because, just seeing how I wasn't placing high in these other meets and then coming out and getting second, it did really show how much I have improved and gotten back into conditioning," said Crouse, who was named Performer of the Meet. "Now it's like, just really happy to see my outcome."

As for the team, the Tigers won their second consecutive regional championship and will compete at the state meet Saturday at Cabell Midland High School. The Tigers won three straight team championships, adding the Shady Spring Invitational and Coalfield Conference Meet to their regional title.

"All of our girls have worked extremely hard at practice," Crouse said. "Just seeing the outcome of that is joyful to see."

The boys team finished second to Nicholas County. Both teams will also be at the state meet.

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As far as bookends go, Brandon Canaday has had a great cross country career.

The Woodrow Wilson senior won the Class AAA Region 3 title last week.

That made him a two-time regional champion, adding to the one he won as a freshman.

It's the stuff that happened in the middle that's not so desirable. Seemingly one injury after another slowed Canaday, including shutting him down completely his sophomore season.

"Tenth-grade year I had a major shin issue," he said.

"I was in a boot, on crutches, I think it was about a month, two months, somewhere in between there. Just to stay in shape, my dad would take me — I couldn't drive — I had to go every night at 8 or 9 p.m. to the Y and I would walk and jog for an hour. That's what it took just for me to come back for that track season. And then I had that minor toe injury last year. So for me to come back this year, it feels good."

He certainly had a lot of motivation to succeed as a senior, which he has. It started with a victory on his home course at the Beckley Chick-fil-A Invitational and has been marked by week to week improvement, leading to his regional championship.

"I would say a good 50 percent of it was like, listen, this is my senior year. I've got one last chance to do what I want to do," Canaday said.

"That was my mindset all year. That's how I got through (the season).

And the other 50 percent was I wanted to come back from the injuries that I had and prove to myself and everybody else that I was still good enough to compete."

Canaday's regional victory led the Flying Eagles to a runner-up finish and automatic state berth.

Canaday's career will come to an end this Saturday at the state meet. He plans on putting everything in to his finale.

"It's my senior year. I've got one last chance," Canaday said. "So going for top 10 for sure. I'm going to leave it all out there. I have to."

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Class A will kick off the state meet, with girls going at 9 a.m. and boys at 9:45 a.m. Awards will be presented at 10:45 a.m.

Class AA (girls noon, boys 12:45 p.m.) will follow, with awards at 1:45 p.m. The day will conclude with Class AAA (girls 3 p.m., boys 3:45 p.m.). The awards ceremony will begin at 4:45 p.m.

Local competitors

Class AAA

Boys

Region 3 runner-up: Woodrow Wilson (Brandon Canaday, Kyle Peters, Michael Haddadin, Vance Lindley, Robert Shirey, Mason Nettles, Trey Sides)

Girls

Region 3 runner-up: Woodrow Wilson (Cecilia Lindley, Kyndall Ince, Lauren Curtis, Leah White, Lillian Bostwick, Hannah Keiling, Skyler Ren)

Region 3 third place: Greenbrier East (Neena McClintic — course-record 20:02.3 at Region 3 — Luella Mansheim, Maddie Lilly, Noelle McClintic — Performer of the Meet — Kate Adkins, Annie Whited, Carter Wolfe)

Class AA

Boys

Region 3 runner-up: Shady Spring (Logan Malott, Eli Jordan, David Hegele, David Northrop, Vaughn York, Reid Radford, Roman Gevenosky)

Individuals: Johnny Walkup (Nicholas County, Region 3 champion), Luke Barr (Nicholas County, third place), Jadon Acord (Liberty, ninth, Performer of the Meet)

Girls

Region 3 champion: Shady Spring (Bre Crouse — Performer of the Meet — Gwynn McGinnis, Journey Wisthoff, Audrey Justice, Abby Honaker, Abby Szuch, Madison Shrewsbury)

Individuals: Kyndal Lusk (Wyoming East), Adrienne Truman (Nicholas County), Haley Johnson (Nicholas County)

Class A

Boys

Region 3 runner-up: James Monroe (Wyatt Lilly, Eli Broyles, William Jackson, Bryceson Whitt, Shane Arthur)

Individuals: Dakota Pettry (Summers County)

Girls

Region 3 runner-up: James Monroe (Katie Collins, Abby Dixon, Kynzie Taylor, Gracie Tooze — Performer of the Meet — Natalie Broyles, Kinleigh Bradley)

Individuals: Avery Lilly (Summers County), Baylee Jarrett (Richwood), Sophie Mullens (Richwood)