Yellow Jackets win All-Ohio Cross Country meet

By Leah Angstadt

Time seemed to slow down as the starting pistol rang through the humid air, calling the All-Ohio cross-country runners to the starting line. The tension was almost tangible as the spectators formed thick lines on either side of the starting funnel. The runners held their breath on the starting line as they braced for the shock of the pistol. The very first XC meet of the fall semester of 2025, and both excitement and nervousness were thick in the air.

Boom. Just like that, the runners were off, fighting to keep pace with each other while still trying to edge themselves to the front of the pack. Hundreds of girls attempted to funnel themselves from the spacious starting line into the narrow trail that served as the rest of the course. Falling behind simply was not an option–to get boxed in behind the opponent runners was to lose the group.

“The plan was to be cautious during the first mile,” Coach Bolender, head coach of the women’s cross-country team, said. “The heat can kinda catch up to you.” 

The heat, as if it desired to give the women a realistic introduction to the rest of the cross-country season, had continued to skyrocket all day, reaching an alarming 88 degrees. Not only did the race day prove to be exceedingly hot and humid, but because it was the first race of the season, a lot of the girls on the team had not run officially in months.  

Despite the plans to race conservatively, the women’s finishing times proved to be much faster than Coach Bolender had previously expected. He excitedly saw the racing patterns of the women and the way many of the Cedarville runners traveled in packs during the race. 

“They just kept moving up,” Bolender said.  Until the finish line of the 6k race, a large portion of the Cedarville women’s XC team moved as one unit, staying together until the finale of the race, and ultimately bringing the team a well-earned victory. 

Both the unexpected race times and overall success only continued to encourage the team that this race was the start that they needed to make it through the  season.

It is certainly no secret that mental toughness and stamina play a large role in the overall performance of the runners. In order not to succumb to the heat and to the pressure of the first race, Bolender reportedly encourages the girls to simply give their best effort in each and every race. This encouragement is given to the girls in an effort to remind them of who exactly receives the glory of the victory. 

Each meet, the girls are encouraged to give everything possible during the race. The goal of this encouragement is that each girl would be able to walk off the course satisfied with her performance and possess absolutely no regrets about race.

And yet, despite the nerves and the pressure to perform well, the Jackets pulled out a win in the best way imaginable. Packs of yellow jerseys seemed to wash over the cross-country course in waves, bearing witness to what the past few months of training have looked like for this team. 

Although each runner races individually, the points are tallied up in the end, ultimately identifying cross-country as a team sport. The team spirit that is so apparent within the women’s cross-country team seemed to play a large role in the victory–the girls stuck together in packs during the race, leading to Cedarville University winning the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth spots during the women’s race. Because this pack finished together, Cedarville beat the other teams by hundreds of points, scoring 20 points in comparison to 122, the score of the next team in line, winning the women the Division 2/NAIA All-Ohio championship race. 

Leah Angstadt is a senior Linguistics and Spanish major with a TESOL concentration. She enjoys writing, knitting, and crocheting.