Bloomington North's Somers Glenn proves she's 'not just an 800 runner'

TERRE HAUTE — Nola Somers Glenn was in 140th place after the first kilometer, and that was after getting off to one of her faster starts of the year.

But with each passing K, she was no longer a face in the crowd and pushing to be a face on the medal stand. Turning to finish off the last 400 meters, the Bloomington North senior was back in her element. Coming off a third-place finish in the 800 at state, she had the footspeed to track down even more spots.

As the finish line neared, she got the one she needed to make All-State and the top 25, taking 24th in a career-best 18:21.0 at the IHSAA girls' state cross country meet on a cloudy afternoon at the LaVern Gibson Course.

Bloomington South, missing its top runner Jasmine Martoglio, was 14th, and Edgewood was 23rd, leaving Somers Glenn as the lone hardware winner for the area.

"My strategy this year was to go out slow and be patient and work my way up the entire race and not get all the work done in the first K," Somers Glenn said. "It's kind of scary at first because, like this race, I was 140th and had to work up 100 or more spots."

And just like any Hollywood underdog sports movie character, she started doing just that. It had to be hard, against a faster field in a high-pressure situation.

"I've had a lot of good training over the last couple months," Somers Glenn said. "So, remembering to trust my training and know that what I'm doing is going to pay off eventually. It's been working out as the season's gone on. Last week I had a really good race, and this week, I put it all together and finished out really well."

As opposed to last year, when Somers Glenn struggled to finish. She'd go out hard and crash like a slot car hitting the curve too hot. Helmer came up with a different plan, one that could tap her half-mile speed at the end. So she got comfortable with it and made it work.

"I think the confidence through the season of running that race," he said. "Our very first meet of the year we did not run that way, and she struggled really bad. She ran a 22:00 at Brown County of all places. So, we're like OK, we have to adjust this because we're just going to have the same pattern as last year."

Helmer gave her times to hit at the first kilometer and work from there.

"Keeping my legs feeling relaxed, I don't get the lactic feeling I did last year," Somers Glenn said. "I think that was the biggest thing, like my legs just gave out."

It's the best finish by a Cougar at state since Mya Hagerty was 20th in 2017 and proof that Somers Glenn is more than just an 800 runner.

"I definitely feel like that's definitely how I feel a lot of times," Somers Glenn said. "It's OK if I suck at cross country because I can still do the 800. But realizing that I can be more diverse in all the events is big for my confidence."

T-Birds make most of state

Eastern Greene's first ever entrants to the state girls' meet had quite a day.

Junior Lilyanna Blais, who had been close to qualifying the past two years, was 117th in 19:28.4, while sophomore Esther Crane, who split time with the new soccer team, was 164th in 20:00.3.

It was a huge moment for both of them.

"It meant so much to me," Blais said. "The thought of, I have so many supportive people here at my school, and they were so proud of us. Definitely my first thought going into regionals is, I want to be the first one."

More: State boys XC: Here's how South's Rhyan Rheam saved his best for last

Crane became the second.

"It's really exciting because everyone made a big deal out of it," Crane said. "It was just really fun to be here.

"Me and her really wanted this," Blais said. "I've ran since the fifth grade. She's ran since sixth grade. We've both worked so hard to get here."

Crane had double duty all season until the soccer team was knocked out at sectional.

"For two or three weeks, it was really, really exhausting," Crane said. "I would go straight from school to cross country then immediately back to soccer. I'd just go home and have so much homework.

"But once soccer was over, my legs were so rested after that, it felt a lot better. But it was fun."

Both of them ran pressure free.

"It was a fun race for me," Blais said. "I've already made it to state. I was just super excited to run and to be here. I killed it today."

Shorthanded South still 14th

Bloomington South had hoped for a top-10 finish but also had to compete without their No. 1 runner after sophomore Jasmine Martoglio, who missed almost all of the season with a stress fracture, injured her Achillies during the regional race.

So twin sister Aurelia took the reins at the top, placing 32nd in 18:33.4 as the Panthers still took 14th with 384 points, just five points away from Ft. Wayne Carroll and three ahead of Warsaw. No Panther ran faster in 2023.

"We tried all week to get (Jasmine) back, and it wasn't worth it to have her try and run and be out for track season," South coach Jill Rensink said. "But man, did her twin run really well today.

"Last year, we were 16th; today we're 14th. I'll take it. We have just not had the gods of cross country smiling on us."

South's two freshmen handled state well as Lexi Kollbaum took 62nd (19:01.1) and Mary Asplund was the No. 3 runner at 20:12.7. Seniors Tamara Kun (158th in 19:55.2), Kate Barada and Clara Graham and junior Grace Stringer rounded out the team effort.

"We'll be good next year," Rensink said. "I'm crazy proud of the girls this year. We've hit a million roadblocks and they've kept pushing through. They all ran right around their PRs for the season or as close as they could on this course, so I really can't ask for anything more."

Crain lead Edgewood to 23rd

The Mustangs had 559 points for 23rd in their first state appearance as a team since 2019.

Sophomore Hannah Crain improved by 40 spots and by just over a minute this year, taking 77th in 19:06.4. Riley Haskett was next in 168th in 20:05.0, followed by Ellie Vagedas, Ally Bland and Nayeli Young in their state debuts.

More: State boys XC: Here's how South's Rhyan Rheam saved his best for last

"With six out of seven girls coming back next year, you've got a pretty good shot," Edgewood coach Zach Evans said. "So to get that experience, to get those pre-race jitters out of the way doing it for the first time is definitely a good thing.

"And we ran a pretty decent race. We beat Jasper, who beat us who last week. Not a bad day, ahead of where we were supposed to finish, even if not everybody ran exactly as well as they wanted to."

State record

Indian Creek's Libby Dowty pulled out the individual title with a 17:06.7, which broke the record for the fastest 5k state final race. The old mark was 17:08.8 by Mishawaka's Anna Rohrer in 2014.

Homestead had 108 points to nip Ft. Wayne Concordia (115) to win the team title for the first time ever.

IHSAA GIRLS' STATE CROSS COUNTRY MEET

Team scores: 1. Homestead 108; 2. Ft. Wayne Concordia 115; 3. Valparaiso 146; 4. North Central 152; 5. Franklin Central 178; 6. Hamilton Southeastern 179; 7. Carmel 187; 8. Noblesville 226; 9. Zionsville 290; 10. Westfield 291; 11. Brownsburg 352; 12. Columbus North 353; 13. Ft. Wayne Carroll 379; 14. Bloomington South 384; 15. Warsaw 357; 16. Penn 429; 17. Lake Central 430; 18. Morgan Twp. 430; 19. East Noble 431; 20. West Lafayette (Harrison) 458; 21. Guerin Catholic 461; 22. Corydon Cental 497; 23. Edgewood 559; 24. Jasper 614; 25. Portage 615.

Top individuals: 1. Libby Dowty, Indian Creek, 17:06.7; 2. Nicki Southerland, Delta, 17:15.8; 3. Julia Score, Bishop Chatard, 17:23.7; 4. Addison Knobloch, Home, 17:37.6; 5. Whitney Anderson, V, 17:46.1; 6. Mallory Weller, FWConc, 17:47.9; 7. Lexi Panning, FWConc, 17:50.9; 8. Kaitlyn Stewart, FloydC, 17:51.6; 9. Kylie Cline, Franklin Central, 17:56.8; 10. Jessica Hegedus, Avon, 17:57.9. Area All-State: 24. Nola Somers Glenn, Bloomington North, 18:21.0.

Bloomington South: 32. Aurelia Martoglio, 18:33.4; 62. Lexi Kollbaum, 19:01.1; 158. Tamara Kun, 19:55.2; 183. Mary Asplund, 20:12.7; 202. Kate Barada, 20:33.1; 213. Clara Graham, 20:44.6; 226. Grace Stringer, 21:03.1. Edgewood: 77. Hannah Crain, 19:06.4; 168. Riley Haskett, 20:05.0; 192. Ellie Vagedas, 20:18.7; 208. Ally Bland, 20:40.6; 237. Nayeli Young, 21:34.3; 244. Ryleigh Burnett, 22:21.0; 249. Nerissa Zelhoff-Arriaga, 22:35.6. Eastern Greene: 117. Lilyanna Blais, 19:28.4; 164. Esther Crane, 20:00.3.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North's Somers Glenn proves she's 'not just an 800 runner'