By Miranda Holloway
Sports Editor
Neither hills nor hay bales could stop sophomore Brooke Wolfe from running to an 18 place finish with a 19:18 time at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore. on Dec 4. With this finish Wolfe earned 3rd team All- American honors.
“I was really happy [with my finish] and being an All- American but most of all just finishing the race was rewarding because it was the end of my whole season, and I was ready for a break,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe qualified for the competition after finishing fifth at the mid-western regional race and in the finished in fifth place at the Class 3A state meet.
This was Wolfe’s first trip to a national competition as a high school student. She won the 13-14 year old Youth Cross Country Nationals in 2009. Wolf said that she was unsure of what to expect going into the more recent race because it was on a larger scale than her previous nationals.
“Being at nationals a lot of people were really nervous and kind of freaking out. I just wanted to stay relaxed and keep doing the same things I had been doing all season,” Wolfe said.
Wolfe kept her composure and managed to put herself in the top 25 runners at the half mile mark and she held a quick pace throughout the race.
“During the race I felt really good because it was terrible conditions and I kept trying to pick people off one by one and keep moving up,” Wolfe said.
The race was ran on a cold 45 degree Saturday under windy and moist conditions.
“There was more mud than grass,” Wolfe said. “There were a couple of man made hills and hay bales that you had to jump over, so that was challenging, but fun.”
Wolfe had so much fun that she hopes that the rest of the Girls’ Cross Country program will join her at the race next year.
“Hopefully next year our whole team will qualify because we are looking very fast,” Wolfe said.
