Path to the Podium-Fannin County Girls
Everyone sees the picture of a team on the podium, with huge smiles and the trophy in hand. What people don't see is the behind the scenes events that led to a spectacular achievement. In this article, Fannin County coaches Miranda Roof and Coach Dr. Lucas Roof describe what it took for their girls to earn the 2nd place trophy in Class A Division 1.
XC 2023
Any seniors that set a good example or laid the foundation?
Although we know that we are talking about our girls' team in this article, the main senior who set a good example and laid the right foundation for our girls' team during the Fall 2023 XC season was our Fall 2023 Boys' State Champion, Zechariah Prater. Our returning girls were able to see from Zech the amount of hard work that it takes to compete and have success at the state level. In this sport, success is always earned and never given. Zech displayed that to our girls.
Any results that gave motivation? (good or bad)
Our girls' team came in fifth place, one place short of the podium, in the fall of 2023 by just a few points. This was especially heartbreaking for many of our girls and our coaches because, at that point, no Fannin County High School girls' team had ever made the podium at the state championships. Thus, the Fall 2023 state race served as motivation for our girls heading into this season. They all certainly wanted a chance for redemption. Our girls knew that to succeed this year at state, they all had to run their best race and complete their mission. We knew it would take an entire team effort with a "We Above Me" approach.
Winter 2023
Anyone that stepped up their training with XC already in mind?
It is difficult to tell if these ladies were stepping up their training during the winter of 2023 with XC already in mind or if they were primarily training for track. However, Lindsey Holloway, Karli Sams, Kensley Pickelsimer, and Sydney Ford all continued to train in some capacity during December of 2023 and early January of 2024. It was obvious that they each wanted to continue to improve with hopes of a podium finish in the fall of 2024.
Mindset of the non-seniors
None of our senior girls from the Fall 2023 XC season were track & field athletes. Therefore, heading into the winter of 2023, it was solely up to our non-senior girls to have the right mindset heading into the track & field season. Our three primary track & field distance runners who also run XC, Lindsey Holloway, Karli Sams, and Sydney Ford all seemed focused and primed to have a great track season. Kensley Pickelsimer, who we shared with the soccer team in the spring, also seemed poised to help our track team in the distance competitions.
Any setbacks/challenges that had to be overcome?
Fortunately, we experienced no major setbacks or challenges. All of our girls were healthy and ready to roll into track.
Track 2024
Anyone that had a breakout season, or new additions, that changed the outlook of XC
Karli Sams, a sophomore during the 2024 track & field season, only ran the 800m for us during her freshman season in the spring of 2023. However, during the 2024 track & field season, we bumped her up to the 1600m and 3200m. We knew that she would perform well, but she truly had a breakout season. She placed 3rd in the 3200m with a time of 11:29 and 4th in the 1600m with a time of 5:18 at the state championships. She also ran the anchor leg of our state championship 4x800m relay team. Sydney Ford and Kensley Pickelsimer, who were freshmen during the 2024 track & field season, also broke 6 minutes in the mile, which was a pleasant surprise. Annaleigh Cheatham was also a standout on the 4x400m relay team.
Anyone that was already expected to contribute, but still had a good season
Our #1 XC runner, Lindsey Holloway, was poised and prepared to have a great track & field season in 2024. She was the state runner-up in the 3200m in the spring of 2023 and the state runner-up in XC in the fall of 2024. Therefore, she came into the 2024 track & field season with high expectations and big goals. She did not disappoint as she came in state runner-up in the 3200m with a time of 11:22 and 3rd in the 1600m with a time of 5:14 at the state championships. She ran the first leg of our state championship 4x800m relay team.
Summer 2024
Any new additions that changed the outlook for XC
Lila Borum moved with her family over the summer from Texas to Blue Ridge, GA. Lila was a track and field athlete in Texas who had never run XC. However, the first time that we saw her run around the track during summer conditioning, we knew that she was going to substantially help our team. We could tell that she could be one of our top runners based on her talent, her attitude, and her work ethic.. Also, Lana Hicks and Claire Saxon joined our team as incoming freshmen. Both of these young ladies also brought a positive attitude and strong work ethic to the team.
Early goals for the season
We analyze data on Milesplit continuously, so we knew that our girls had the potential to make the podium at the state championships. Based on the statistics, we could tell that beating Bleckley County would be improbable. However, we knew that state runner-up was attainable. We were actually quoted in an article for our local newspaper stating that our biggest competition for a podium spot would be Bremen and Jeff Davis and that it would be tight. Thus, our early goals for the season were to be region champs and to make the podium at state.
How the team handled summer training
As everyone knows, summer training can be tricky. Some runners will come to every conditioning session that you hold, and some runners prefer to run on their own. As a coach, you can push some runners really hard during the summer while you have to be careful with some runners to make sure they do not burn out by the time you get to November. With all of our different personalities on our team and knowing who we can push during the summer and who we cannot, we feel like our summer training went well. We held multiple training sessions per week throughout the summer; most of our girl runners attended these sessions.
Any setbacks/challenges that had to be overcome?
One of our top runners from the fall of 2023 collapsed while at home. Because of this fall, she had to rest more than she would have liked. She then suffered prolonged, severe headaches throughout the XC season. Although she had this setback, she continued to work through the pain, persevered, and helped our team at the state championships as our all-important fifth runner.
Season 2024
Anyone that had a breakout season that changed the outlook
The primary runner that changed the outlook of our season was the instant success of Lila Borum. In her first XC race of her life at the Pickens Preview, Lila ran a 5K in 21:25. Her success in this race let us know that we truly could compete for a podium spot at state. Another runner that had a breakout season was Lindsey Holloway. Although she was the state runner-up the season before, she had always hovered around 19:55 to 20:05 in her best races. She took her training to another level this season, which caused her to drop her times. She ran a PR of 19:04 at Pickens & Grinnin', which let us know that she was poised to be in the top 3 at state for our team.
How early results compared to any goals
At the Picken Preview meet, all five of our point-scorers ran under 22:30. This confirmed that our goal of the podium was certainly realistic.
Any revisions of goals?
Although we had several setbacks and challenges during the season (see below), our goal of the podium (and possibly a state runner-up finish) never changed. That continued to be the goal for our team.
Any setbacks/challenges that had to be overcome?
Our team ran at the Wingfoot XC Classic on September 21. We again had all 5 of our point-scorers run in the 22s or better with our top 2 runners running in the 20s and having a stellar race. We felt extremely confident after Wingfoot. It turns out, however, that the Wingfoot race was the last race our team was fully healthy. Right after Wingfoot, we dealt with top-5 runners having to miss a substantial amount of practice time and meets due to hip injuries, SARS, and concussion-related headaches over the next several weeks leading into the state sectional meet. Then, heading into the state championship meet, one of our top runners came down with strep throat and missed most of the practices leading into state. However, our team never lost faith that we could accomplish our goal of being on the podium. We continued to stay positive and focus on our mission. Even with all of these setbacks, all of our runners came into the state meet with the mindset that we could accomplish our original goal of being on the podium.
In hindsight, key moments of the season that led to the State result
In hindsight, one key moment that led to our state runner-up finish was when our top 2 runners, Lindsey Holloway and Karli Sams, came into true form at the Pickens & Grinnin' Invitational on October 11th. They carried this momentum through the rest of the season. Another key moment was when Lila Borum came back from multiple health issues and ran one of her best races of the season at the state championships. Additionally, a key moment was when Lana Hicks stepped up at the state sectional meet and ran as our 5th runner to help us become the Region Champs. A final key moment was when Kensley Pickelsimer realized at the state sectional meet that she could keep pace with Lila Borum. This confidence helped her run her best race for us when it mattered most (at the state championships).