'The Future is Now': Triway girls XC wins Gideon's Run Invite

APPLE CREEK — A year ago, Ella Wigal was a one-person team.

Saturday, the junior two-sport standout celebrated and her new Triway teammates celebrated a team championship.

Wigal and the Titans, highlighted by a convincing individual win from freshman Martha Johnson, dominated the field in winning the Gideon's Run Invitational at Waynedale.

"I was always the girl (at the starting line) where the official would say, 'Purple, it's just you?' said Wigal, who also plays on the school's soccer team in the fall. "This year it's a lot more fun being with seven other teammates, encouraging each other like we do on the soccer field.

"I was talking to one of my teammates today just like I would on the soccer field as a team captain," she added. "I love getting to capture that with my cross country teammates."

With three of its five scoring runners in the top five individually, Triway with 24 points to finished well ahead of Principal Athletic Conference rivals Tuslaw (61), Manchester (71) and Orrville (87) for the team title.

Several Titan rookies had a hand in the victory.

Trailing Waynedale's Clara Sundberg for most of the race, Johnson made a strategic move to pass the All-Daily Record selection with a little over a mile to go.

The decision paid off in a big way as she would extend that lead in the final stretch en route to clocking a 21:58.62 to beat out Sundberg (22:18.41).

"I just kicked it in, saw the end, and just worked for it," said Johnson, who moved to the Triway district from Indian Valley. "I heard my coaches, my family and teammates cheering for me, so I just felt like it was the right time to go for it."

While the personal win was a good feeling, which also earned her a shower of cups of water over her head by her teammates after the race, getting to share in the win with those same girls made it even more special.

"It was hard, but I feel happy for myself and for our team," Johnson said. "We all worked together and got through it.

"It was really hard, but I'm really happy about our finish."

Wigal turned in a fourth-place run of 23:05, with teammate Hannah Lamp (23:13.97) right behind her in fifth overall. Lucy Acker (12th place, 24:41.59) and Reese Crilow (15th, 25:07.37) also factored in the team scoring.

Triway fans that lined the final steps before the finish had purple shirts that said, 'The Future is Now' — something that Wigal is more than excited to be the leader of after a year of being all alone of the course.

“I would see her up front and that encouraged me to go to,” Wigal said of Johnson. “My friend Hannah was back-and-forth with me, too, and that definitely helped keep me going.

"My mom tells me, 'always more,' and I want to encourage my team with that because there's always more to give," said Wigal, who had those two words written on her arm. "That's what I want; that endurance to keep going."

Despite not having enough to field a full team, the host Golden Bears were impressive.

Along with Sundberg's runner-up finish, Anna Pittman took third in 22:57.18.

Sundberg admitted that some congestion, along with the sloppy course conditions and early-race fog, made it difficult to find that extra gear late in the race.

The veteran, however, was proud of herself for pulling through.

"For me, mentally, this was really a tough race," the senior said. "There was a point where I was like, 'I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish this race.' I felt that fatigued.

"She kept me pushing it at the end and I know that next time I will have more confidence in myself to stay up with her."

Right up there with the lead pack was a handful of other locals, led by Tuslaw freshman Adriana Pudloski, who was sixth in 23:15.61. She was followed by Chippewa’s Cally West (23:24.58) and Kelsey Newsome (23:42.90), who were seventh and eighth, respectively, along with fellow Mustang. Hailey Wood (23:43.55) in ninth.

Northwestern's Kayla Cutter (14th, 25:03.06) also had a strong run locally, while Orrville's Aleah Daugherty (16th, 25:16.57) and Central Christian's Angela Miller (25:21.15). led their teams.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Girls XC: Triway wins Gideon's Run Invite