On Thursday afternoon, Oct. 16, the Manual boys’ and girls’ cross country teams competed in the Yared Nuguse Cross Country Championships. The meet was also the senior night ceremony for the Crimsons. It took place at E.P Tom Sawyer State Park. Manual conquered the course with varsity girls placing first out of five teams and varsity boys placing first out of eight teams.
The varsity boys 5K kicked off the evening, starting at 5 p.m. Male High School’s Henry Kisser finished first overall with a time of 15:55.82. Oliver Zausch (11, HSU), finished first for Manual and placed third overall with a time of 16:13.08. John Willen (11, MST) placed fifth overall with a time of 16:49.53.
The varsity girls 5K soon followed at 5:30 p.m. Bailee Montgomery (12, HSU) finished first overall with a time of 18:07.48. Celia Maudlin (9, HSU) shortly followed, placing second with a time of 18:37.11. Abigail Multerer (10, HSU) placed fifth overall with a time of 19:48.97. Madison Price (11, HSU) followed her, placing seventh overall with a time of 20:05.76.
The course consisted of mostly flat ground. Conditions were perfect for running, with sunshine and cool dry weather.
Following the race, Coach Tim Holman presented awards to the top three finishers and then announced the seniors on the team for the senior night ceremony. This was followed by coaches from other schools doing the same.
“This is an opportunity to really bring all of JCPS together, so it was a lovely evening, and I think we got a lot out of it,” Holman said.
Holman also discussed what it was like to have Yared Nuguse back to speak.
“It’s awesome. I have been privileged to be a part of his journey and to watch him have that success, and what’s been really neat about it is seeing other people do the same and see how many fans he has,” Holman said.
Holman recalled his favorite memory with the seniors on the team.
“The last couple of years we’ve gone to Brown County, and that’s really fun. That experience of getting them out of their normal routine, and in a hotel room and eating dinner,” Holman said.
Seniors reflected on what they gained from their time running at Manual.
“I just realized, wow, even though the workouts itself are really hard, I can take some satisfaction and take some enjoyment in the workouts themselves instead of just taking satisfaction in the fact that the workout is done after the practice,” Benjamin Xie (12, MST) said.
Montgomery committed to run at Eastern Kentucky University. She offered advice to underclassmen who will fill the shoes of the seniors next season.
“Honestly, just have fun with it. Time flies, and just really get to know the girls and be a part of the team, because that was my favorite part of being at Manual,” Montgomery said.
During awards, seniors also reflected on their favorite memories.
“During my freshman year, when my team actually won state … no one thought Manual would win that year, and we all just had a red thread and pushed each other to win state that year,” Montgomery said.
After awards, Yared Nuguse spoke to runners and families.
“It feels great [to be back]. I mean, I’ve always loved JCPS champs and cross country in general, especially in high school. And to have the meet named after me was a huge honor, and I really wanted to come out, and I couldn’t last year, but getting to make it out this year was really fun,” Nuguse said.
Nuguse offered advice to high schoolers participating in cross country.
“The first thing I’d say is always just have fun. I feel like running is a sport that is meant to be enjoyed more than anything versus trying to stress yourself into being the best that you can possibly be. I think if you’re having fun with it the rest actually does come. So, enjoy your friends. Enjoy the run. Enjoy it while you have it,” Nuguse said.
