The race schedule finally caught up with the girls' cross-country team when they raced against another strong field of teams at the Galion Distance Festival Saturday morning. After competing in the Tiffin Invitational last Saturday and then beating rival Laurel School last Tuesday, the Pioneers raced hard in their third race over an 8-day span. Unfortunately, the unusual mid-week effort caught up with the girls. 

Reserve started the day without #1 runner Addie LeVan ('25), who was away on a college trip, and then about the one-mile mark, #3 runner Janne Luley ('27) had to withdraw from the race after aggravating an injury she developed during the Laurel victory. Yet the rest of the squad pushed hard throughout, finishing an impressive 12th in the strong 21-team field.

Without LeVan to lead them, Caroline West ('27) stepped up and ran the fastest time of her brief career, finishing 34th in 22:00 while dropping 21 seconds from her previous best on the flatterTiffin course.  A more patient start in the opening 400 meters allowed West to run wonderfully balanced splits through the challenging 5K course. Then, as they have done all season, Yuna Ravasio ('26) and Claire Brown ('25) ran stride for stride with each other through two miles before Ravasio this time slipped ahead to take the second spot for the Pioneers in 23:27, with Brown right behind her in 23:51. Rounding out the short-handed squad were Miranda Wang ('25), Leah Petras ('27), and Xochi Nandi (25). Like  Ravasio and Brown just ahead of them, Wang and Petras also paced each other, running side-by-side right up to the finish line and earning times of 24:21 and 24:23, respectively. Nandi finished in her best time of the season, closing things out for Reserve in a time of 26:45.

In looking at the girls' mile times, Coach Warner noted that everyone ran very well through the first two miles but that many of the girls slowed a bit more than usual in the final 1.1 miles. Said Warner, "I'm proud of what these ladies have accomplished in this tough stretch of meets. They competed hard, never waivered in their support of each other, gave their best each time out."

This next week allows the girls time to recover and prepare before heading to the Sandy Valley Invitational this coming Saturday. With LeVan back, Luley hopefully recovered, and everyone returning to their normal training routine, the Pioneers should be very competitive.

Race Resuts: https://results.speedysneakers.com/meets/40203/events/xc/1501497