XC: Robinson leads Lady Zebras to second-consecutive state meet berth

Oct. 25—TULSA — As she circled O'Brien Park, Emma Robinson felt a growing sense of anxiety.

Her nervousness wasn't due to doubting her running abilities but rather the unseasonably late October heat, which pushed the mid-race temperature into the low 70s. However, despite the less-than-ideal conditions, nothing could deter the determined Claremore junior from extending her impressive streak of races.

Robinson completed the 5K race in under 21 minutes for a third-consecutive occasion, logging a time of 20 minutes, 46.07 seconds while placing 11th of 89 runners at the Class 5A East Regional Qualifier on Saturday, Oct. 21 in Tulsa.

"She's in beast mode right now," Claremore coach Eric Wiens said. "When you see athletes, she is somebody who you would look at and go, 'That girl is an athlete.' She's done an unbelievable job of making herself into that athlete, from lifting weights to doing sprint workouts and distance training. She's kind of all over with what she does, and she's just a stud right now. She's running really, really well. We tried to work on a lot of speedwork because that's something that we miss in distance runners; we miss a lot of speedwork. She keeps getting in better and better and better shape, and along with that speed, she's just getting better and better at these 5Ks."

Four other Lady Zebras also achieved personal bests, and that collective performance helped Claremore qualify for the Class 5A State Championships for a second-consecutive year, securing a sixth-place finish out of 12 teams with a total of 157 points in an event that sends the top-seven teams to the state meet. The Lady Zebras are set to compete in the Class 5A State Championships at 10:15 a.m. Saturday at Edmond Santa Fe.

Lincoln Christian claimed the regional championship with 34 points thanks to Tennyson Housley (18:29.82) and Baylee Woodrich (19:04.62), who secured the top two positions.

"They ran well today, especially on a pretty warm day," Wiens said. "It's warmed up quite a bit, but they ran good. They put us in a position to get to state. At the beginning of the year, we thought we were gonna be good, but things just didn't happen like we thought they would, and that sometimes happens. They just came together at the right time and ran well."

October has been an exhilarating month for Robinson, with times of 20:51.25 and 20:51.50 leading up to her personal best Saturday. Prior to that three-race stretch, her season-best stood at 21:58.37, which she achieved at the 30th Annual Holland Hall Invitational on Sept. 16.

Robinson attributes her rapid improvement to the recent introduction of weight training at Claremore, along with her commitment to taking recovery runs seriously.

""My training has been going smooth," Robinson said. "This year I actually focused on running good, so I'm more pumped for it (the state meet)."

Wiens echoed Robinson's sentiments about the benefits of the new weight-training program, noting the improvement he has observed in all of his runners since its implementation.

Given the positive impact it has had, it is not surprising that Eleanor Issacs, Tylea Jones, Chloe Grubbs and Abbie Douthitt also managed personal bests at the regional qualifier meet.

Issacs, a sophomore, placed 24th with a time of 21:54.20, and senior Jones was right behind her at 25th in 21:58.57. Grubbs, a sophomore, was the last point-earner to achieve a personal best, coming in at 46th in 23:16.40, and though sophomore Douthitt didn't contribute to the team scoring, her best time of 24:31.81 earned her 64th place.

Addison Hamilton, a freshman, was the fifth and final scoring contributor for the Lady Zebras with a time of 23:44.31, placing 52nd overall and 51st among eligible point-earners.

"We have our new strength-and-conditioning program, and I truly believe that with us, we were starting from the ground level," Wiens said. "We had very little to no weight training whatsoever, and I truly believe that that's really helped us come along and make better times. Stronger legs makes stronger runners, and I think it's helped us. I really think we've benefitted from it."

CLASS 4A

At the Class 4A Regional Qualifier at Nichols Park in Henryetta, the Verdigris girls qualified for the state meet with a sixth-place finish of 15 teams with 196 points. Byng won the regional title with 40 points.

Josefina Melkova, a senior, led the teams with a time of 13:39.49 in the 2-mile race, placing 18th of 109 runners and 17th among 101 eligible point-earners. Fellow senior Zoe Stout (14:03.74) and Riley Abel (14:53.01) were next at 28th/27th and 44th/41st, respectively, while sophomores Hannah Ross (15:15.09) and Leonor Palacios (15:16.32) came across in 58th/55th and 59th/56th to round out the Lady Cardinals' scoring.

Freshmen Harper Davidson (15:49.10) and Anniston Moseley (16:29.28) also competed for Verdigris, finishing 66th and 81st, respectively.

Emily Cruz of Stilwell won the race, clocking in at 12:07.48.

The Lady Cardinals will run in the Class 4A State Championships at 11:45 a.m. Saturday at Edmond Santa Fe.

CLASS 3A

In the Class 3A East Regional Qualifier at the same course, it was Chelsea junior Natalie Lopez leading the Lady Dragons to a berth in the state meet, pacing them to a sixth-place finish of 11 teams with 150 points.

Bethel won the regional championship with 28 points, sweeping the top-three spots in the 2-mile race that featured 80 runners.

Lopez finished the race in 14:13.09, placing 10th overall and ninth among eligible point-earners. Baylee Tapley of Bethel won with a time of 12:51.42.

Chelsea scorers following Lopez were freshman Maddie Hillburn (30th/29th) in 15:19.51, junior Bryonna Wisdom (32nd/31st) in 15:26.20, senior Jaclyn Draeger (34th/33rd) in 15:37.28 and freshman Jewell Hubler (50th/48th) in 16:20.25. Avery Lawhorn, a junior, and sophomore Zoee Smith also ran for the Lady Green Dragons, finishing with times of 17:57.48 and 18:23.12, respectively, in 64th and 68th place.

Chelsea will compete in the Class 3A State Championships at 1 p.m. Saturday at Edmond Santa Fe.