My choice for athlete of the week from the Cross Country team is Kenna Price. When Kenna was recruited to join the team, she asked what a normal time was for girls in Cross Country. The average time for a Varsity girl would be somewhere in the 22 to 23 minute range. She didn't sound too thrilled about that because her personal record time was over 27 minutes. I told her not to be discouraged about that because I would see to it that she improved as long as she did what was asked.
Kenna's effort and determination has been the reason for her success. She started out as a JV runner until she began showing improvement and consistency in speed. In her very first official 5k in Chillicothe, she placed first in the JV Girls race with a time of 25:38. The next two races were a little slower, but not bad considering the hot weather and long upward slopes.
When we had our first cool early morning race at Marshall, she responded in a big way with a second place finish in under 24 minutes. Following that race was the hilliest course we run on at Krug Park in St. Joseph. Still, she had a respectable time in the low 25's and received her third medal in only five races. This was her first Varsity medal.
Finally, at the most recent meet in Grain Valley, Kenna pushed herself to a 5k time of less than 23 minutes as a Varsity runner and in the top 50%. That may not sound all that great unless the teams she was up against were taken into consideration. Besides Grain Valley, there were other Class 4 teams with speedy runners participating.
The main point is that Kenna has learned to pace herself when running and focusing on improving consistently. She has done that and, no doubt, will continue to strive to be the best she can be. Like so many other Tiger runners, she has her heart set on qualifying for State. That in itself will not be an easy feat, but I don't have any doubts that she will give it all she has.