PRATT, Kans.- The women of Pratt cross country entered last weekend's NJCAA Region VI Championships with the opportunity to bring home some hardware. Fortune be good, they found their bounty to be quite heavy. Literally.
Yesterday, while taking photos, the girls lugged around the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Western Division Championship plaque, as well as a second plaque commemorating the team's third-place finish in Region VI. This group of young women were more than happy to flex their muscles however, seeing as how they've done a lot of heavy lifting all season.
"It's great to see their practices translate to a strong race every week," said head coach Eric Larson. "I was so happy for them as a team that their hard work was rewarded with a top three finish in the region, being named West Conference champions, and having two All-Region and two All-Conference athletes."
As a collective, the Beavers finished third at the Region VI Championships with a team time of 1:47:01:92 over the course of the 5k run. Leading the way was freshman Patricia Koma, recording a time of 12:03.58, worth a fifth-place spot out of 58 competitors. Coach Larson reveled in her season-long consistency.
"Patricia is our number-one runner," he said. "She has been racing strong all year typically in the front."
Following the race, Coach Larson recalled how the girls were too exhausted to immediately celebrate their conference triumph. It's tough to blame them.
"Well they were pretty tired," Coach Larson said. "I know they were excited but they were really tried to express a lot of emotion."
Cross country is certainly a very demanding form of sport. In order to compete at the level the Beavers have, a certain work ethic is required. With the dividends having been paid, Coach Larson believes the results speak to the Beavers doing the big things, as well as the little things correctly.
"I don't do a lot of motivational speaking because workouts speak for themselves," Coach Larson said. "The rewards come from the workouts. I talk consistently though about wanting to finish well at the region race and as a Top 15 team at the national meet. I talk about good sleep habits, good hydration habits, and good eating habits. We are always ready to race."
Hindsight may be 20/20, but Coach Larson had a feeling that his gritty group of girls was capable of doing what they did. There may even be more to come when the Beavers travel to the NJCAA Cross Country Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 9.
"As a coach I knew we were a Top Four team in the region and knew it was going to take a great race to be Top Three. It just all happened to come together at the right time.
"The team is excited to run at the national meet against the rest of the nation. This is what we train for all year, the race in two weeks. I consistently say to the team only two races in the season matter. Regionals and the cross country nationals. That is where we will run our best."