PCA’s Cross Country Teams Race to State Meet
Prattville Christian Academy’s Cross Country Teams have trained from the sticky heat of June to the chilling winds of November, and despite the challenges of occasional poor weather and some injuries, they ultimately reached their goal: the State Meet at Oakville Indian Mounds Park. It’s been over five years since the varsity girls have qualified as a team, but this year’s nine ladies pushed until the end, always keeping their eyes on the prize! Meanwhile, the boys will be adding this to their streak of state qualifications.
With both teams placing third at Sectionals, they traveled together this past Saturday morning to the state meet. Each runner was up bright and early, ready to race strong, and the results showcase the diligent work all of them have put in this season!
Junior and Co-Team Captain Carson Roberson and Freshman Mason Myers, the top two runners on the boys team, are getting steadily closer to beating the school record for the fastest 5K! As of this meet, the boys ran at 18:25.63 and 18:34.23, respectively, earning them 35th and 36th place out of 163 runners. Junior Cohen Palmore was close behind with a time of 18:50.06. There’s a lot of promise in these athletes!
Within the top 100 runners, sophomore Austyn McGregor placed 55th at 19:21.24 while fellow sophomore Cade Segars finished next at 20:11.31, rounding out the top five guys to earn the varsity Boys Team an incredible placement of 7th in the state! Way to work hard!
Seniors Chase Gay, another Co-Captain; Austin Jeffery; and Nikolas LaFrance certainly all ended their cross country careers on a high note. Gay and eighth-grader Evan Cockrell even respectively earned a season-best and personal record with times of 22:32.07 and 27:49.99. For the seniors, we can’t wait to watch you keep running in this race of life, and underclassmen, keep breaking those records!
The girls’ team also saw phenomenal results for all of their hard work. Last year, Coach Lantz speculated that, with an official five-person girls’ team, “they [would] be just as competitive at the state level as our boys,” and Coach Schumpert did not disappoint when he picked up where Lantz left off. Pulling together nine girls from last year’s three, he created a team that truly was just as competitive as the boys.
Sophomore Avery Rogers, the current school record holder for fastest girls 5K, led the way with her outstanding time of 20:36.48. Although she also plays volleyball and basketball, Rogers continues to excel. Both teams were ecstatic to celebrate her success as she individually medalled 13th in the state out of 161 competitors!
Moreover, Sophomore Sarah Birchmeier and Senior and Co-Captain Maddie Jeffery both placed within the top 100 with strong times of 23:37.57 and 24:35.06. That’s a personal record for Birchmeier and season-best for Jeffery! Seniors Skylar Pratt and Caroline Schumpert, with sub-27 and sub-30 minute times, were close behind.
While the seniors were running their last race though, three new runners ran their first State Meet! Eighth-graders Gillian Sabir and K.C. Duvall as well as seventh-grader Chasiti Lindsey ran under 30 minutes, each girl setting their personal record. With several years left to improve, all three girls will be athletes to watch out for.
Coach Schumpert reflects on the season with pride, saying, “It was an incredible blessing to be around each member of the team. Although a lot of the effort is individual, the team really did come first, and it showed in this team’s actions. They encouraged each other; they left no one on the course, as the faster runners would go run others in after they finished. They pushed one another to do their best and to set fast paces that challenged each other.”
Although he was a new coach this season, Schumpert remarked that with the assistance of Dave Jeffery and Leigh Willis, “This season has been an incredible journey…. I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity to be around such outstanding athletes, team captains, coaches, and team parents. To God be the glory.”
In the future, Schumpert hopes “to see cross country become a place where students can challenge themselves and become a sport for leadership development… [as well as] a primary sport at PCA.” It looks like his goals are off to a great start!
Congratulations to both Cross Country teams for their excellent performances this year. We cannot wait to see what the future holds for all of you! Keep running strong and go Panthers!
By: Maddie Jeffery ’22
Journalism Student
