SPORTSINK.COM PHOTO
Archbishop Hoban sophomore Katie Frego ran away from the field Wednesday afternoon at the annual Dick Malloy Cross Country Invitational run at Goodyear Heights Metro Park.
AKRON, Ohio – Southeast junior Katelyn McCullough is taking it one day at time.
The former volleyball player turned cross country standout isn’t exactly sure what all the fuss is about. She didn’t train over the summer for distance running and yet in her first varsity competition she placed fourth on Wednesday in a six-team Gold Division race at the Dick Malloy Invitational at Goodyear Heights Metro Park.
A track athlete in the spring, focusing on the hurdles, sprints and 4x400-meter relay, McCullough said she once ran 800 meters in seventh grade.
“I’d never really run anything farther than that,” she said.
That is until Wednesday.
Her 3K time of 12:39 trailed first-place runner Shelby Hulin of Chippewa by 10 seconds.
“Yeah, I’m pretty surprised,” McCullough shrugged.
No big deal.
“My track coach is the cross country coach, so I decided that I wanted to run,” she said.
McCullough and her freshman teammate – Miranda Hughes – were practically joined at the hip as they traversed the rolling, two-mile course that has swallowed up so many high-caliber runners over the years. They crossed the finish line one second apart.
Hughes admitted to being nervous for her first varsity race, but then placed fifth (12:40).
“It doesn’t usually hit me until we’re actually getting off the bus,” she said. “Oh, I’m going to run a race. Now what am I going to do?”
Hughes said she ramped up her training in late July and that preparation paid a dividend in the first meet of the season.
“We really try to stay together,” said Hughes about running side by side with McCullough. “During practice we push each other.”
True to form, neither young athlete is too concerned about the impending jump to 5,000 meters.
“We kind of know what the other person is thinking and we just kind of go with it,” Hughes said.
The Pirates placed third in the team standings. Marlington won the Gold Division followed by Streetsboro. Junior Paige Verma was the Rockets’ top finisher in sixth place (13:09).
Host Archbishop Hoban won the boys Gold Division behind junior first-place runner James Axson (10:14). The Knights placed four athletes in the top 10 and edged runner-up Southeast by one point.
Senior Dusty Sartor led the Pirates, placing third (10:22). Streetsboro senior Pete Hannan was second (10:21).
The Hoban girls captured top prize in the Blue Division, thanks in large measure to sophomore Katie Frego, who ran away from the field (12:03). Her teammate, senior Allie Weiss, came in third (13:33).
Coventry senior Liz Bullock placed second in the Blue race (12:49).
Alliance Marlington dominated the boys Blue Division race, sweeping the top five spots.