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'In my own zone': Northwest's Madelyn Begert wins first district cross country title

mike popovich, canton repository
·2 min read
Northwest's Madelyn Begert runs to a second-place finish at last month's Stark County Cross Country Championships.
Northwest's Madelyn Begert runs to a second-place finish at last month's Stark County Cross Country Championships.

PLAIN TWP. — Once Madelyn Begert shook off the butterflies, she took charge and raced to history.

The Northwest sophomore won her first district title in a Division II girls meet course-record 18:32.34 Saturday at GlenOak. Berget's win helped her team earn a regional berth for just the third time in program history.

"I was really, really nervous before the race," Begert said. "I don't know why. I always get really nervous before my races. It was really cool, and I'm like 'Oh, the conditions may affect how I run.'

"Once I started going, it just all kind of melted away. I got in my own zone and just tried to run my own race."

Lake's Daniela Scheffler earned the area's second girls district title later in the day when she won the Division I race. It was her second straight district win.

Lake's Daniela Scheffler races to a win at last week's Federal League Cross Country Championships.
Lake's Daniela Scheffler races to a win at last week's Federal League Cross Country Championships.

Begert's first district title comes on the heels of a win at last week's PAC-7 Championships. She lowered her runner-up time at districts a year ago by 50 seconds.

"Running PAC, I just tried to run my race again, then going to districts, I'm like "OK, let's just try to keep the momentum going,'" Begert said.

"This makes me super excited to go to regionals, try to run my best and hopefully get to state."

Scheffler has decisively won many of her races this season. Her winning margin at last week's Federal League Championships was 44 seconds.

A winning time of 18:14.72 at districts secured a 35-second victory margin over Stow's Jayla Atkinson, the 2020 and 2021 district champion.

"Going in, it was really to just get the job done, do the best I could do and survive and advance," Scheffler said.

"I just want to take things one step at a time. I know I'll be running with people for the first time this season. I just have to show up, do my best and navigate each race and course the best I can."

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

On X: @mpopovichREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Madelyn Begert, Daniela Scheffler win district cross country titles