SMHS CROSS COUNTRY
Smith and McGlothlin qualify for State Meet
Sophomore Eleanor Smith and senior Connor McGlothlin will compete at the State Cross Country meet today at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock after qualifying at the Region IV meet in Corpus Christi.
Head Coach Owen Mc-Glothlin is happy with the duo and the amount of hard work they have put in to qualify.
“I’m proud of them,” Owen McGlothlin said. “They definitely deserve it. They worked hard this season, and it’s justice that they have made it this far.”
SMITH MAKES HISTORY AS FIRST REGIONAL CHAMPION Smith had made history by becoming the first Lady Rattler cross country runner to win 1st place at the regionals.
After shattering the school record early in the season, Smith is ready to run in Round Rock.
“I’m excited to go to state,” Smith said. “I didn’t [qualify] last year, so I’m excited to go this year. Winning the regional championship was unexpected. There were a lot of fast girls in that race, so I was happy to go out there and compete. I’m excited for state because it will be my last chance to break the 18 [minute mark].”
The regional race took an unexpected turn following a false start that caused the race to be restarted. But the restart was a blessing in disguise for Smith.
“It was a crazy start, because we had a false start,” Smith said. “So we had to restart the race, which I was really happy about. I was leading the race for the first mile then I slowed it down to control the pace more. Towards the end, there was some tough competition, with girls wanting to take first place. So I made the decision to kick 100 meters early.”
On the restart, Smith was able to adjust for the start of the race “It helped me, because a lot of our races we were on the edges. But now we were in the middle,” Smith said. “In the middle, you have to fight more for your spot, with it being more crowded. The false start helped me get used to sprinting out with a bunch of girls around me.”
The fast start allowed Smith to race out to 1st place where she was able to conserve enough energy to finish out the race for the gold medal.
“Usually when you kick, people go with you,” Smith said. “But if you are able to hold it longer than them, they usually fall off, which helped me win the race. Towards the end of the race, I still had a lot of stamina left, so I was able to use it whereas the other girls didn’t have much.”
A challenge for Smith was the environment with the race being held at a later time than usual on top of the course being next to the Gulf of Mexico.
“It was much hotter, because we ran later in the day rather than in the morning,” Smith said. “So it was a different challenge dealing with the heat and the humidity.”
MCGLOTHIN LOOKS TO MAKE HISTORY AT STATE MEET Connor McGlothlin will finish his final high school cross country race in Round Rock after placing in 17th place to qualify for the state meet.
“It’s fun,” Connor Mc-Glothlin said. “I’ve run there before, and it’s a fast course. It should be a fun race.”
It was a tough race for Connor McGlothlin who had to battle the race conditions at Corpus Christi with the course being close to the Gulf of Mexico and a later start time.
“I started off really well but then I had a tough second mile because of the heat and the humidity,” Connor McGlothlin said. “I really grinded in that third mile to get back in position, which is what I had to do.”
After a tough second mile, McGlothin used his training to pull through and finish strong.
“I just trusted my training,” Connor McGlothlin said. “I’ve done workouts harder than my races, so I needed to trust my training and put it all out there.”
Though placing in the Top 10 is an automatic qualification for state, runners that are a part of the top four teams that qualify for state are automatically taken out to allow the top 10 individual runners a chance to run at state.
Finishing in 17th, Connor McGlothlin had waited nervously to see if he qualified for the state meet.
“It was really close,” Connor McGlothlin said. “I had to wait 30 minutes, and I didn’t know until they announced my name. It was definitely nerve racking.”
Running at the state meet, Connor McGlothlin is now gunning to become the highest placing Rattler cross country runner at state.
“I feel like we haven’t had a crazy San Marcos boy [runner] finish at state,” Connor McGlothlin said. “I want to do that and get the highest placing finish in school history.”
Both Smith and Connor McGlothlin will run today at the UIL State Cross Country Meet at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. Smith will run at 10:45 a.m. and Connor Mc-Glothlin will run at 11:25 a.m.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
