Competing at the MSHSAA Class 4 Cross Country Championships at Gans Creek in Columbia on Friday, November 5, Washington High School placed 12th in the girls team standings and crowned an all-state medalist in the process.
Junior Julia Donnelly earned all-state honors by finishing in fourth-place in a time of 18:38.2. The top 25 finishers claimed all-state medals.
“We knew Julia was going to be in the top 10. We thought a top 5 was there. We talked all week about how she was going to make her run at the state championship spot,” said Washington Head Cross Country Coach Mike Olszowka. “She may have gotten out a little too fast, but she’s a warrior. When it comes down to it, she races every day in practice. There’s a lot of things that she could teach the other kids on the team. Every day is a competition. She made it a competition and she did what she had to do to get her place on the podium. She earned it 100 percent.”
Donnelly held the lead for approximately the first mile of the race. She eventually dropped to seventh place before finishing fourth with a strong finish.
“I was expecting to stay behind the leaders for the whole race, but I got ahead of myself and was in the lead at the beginning. I was hoping I could maintain that. I really thought I could. Unfortunately, I fell back a little bit, but came back in the last 400. It was one of my best finishes,” Donnelly said. “I’m really excited to get fourth place. I was in seventh place for a while, and didn’t want to finish there. The top four is good. Next year will be better.”
Donnelly, who won the district race last week, is now an all-state performer in two sports after earning the honor last winter during the wrestling season. She has a chance to make it three sports this spring during the track and field season.
“It feels great to be all-state in two sports. Pretty amazing. Can’t wait to hopefully make it three sports later this year,” Donnelly said.
“She’s going to roll into wrestling with a warrior mentality and then track will come around,” Olszowka said. “She’s one of those kids who believes if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. She’s going to give everything she has. It sets her above everyone else.”
Joining Donnelly in the girls race for Washington were Leah Wheeler (78th place in 20:44.4), Annelise Obermark (86th in 20:52.4), Kendra Bliss (121st in 21:49.4), Lindsay Sprung (124th in 21:54.7), Avery Johnson (140th in 22:41.8) and Isabella Von Behren (148th in 23:09.3).
“My teammates really support me and motivate me. They’re all great. Everyone supports each other and helps each other out. It’s just a good environment. It’s a good group to be around. They’re all super sweet and nice. They’re like family,” Donnelly said.
“Six out of seven years qualifying for state as a team says a lot about the program. The coaches and the kids put in a lot of time during the summer. I’m really happy, really proud of the effort last week to get to state,” Olszowka said of the girls team. “They ran well today, but they’ve got to learn for next year that every day is a training day. We’ll use this as a learning experience. Five of the seven girls are coming back. We have a few strong eighth-graders coming in and a couple of JV kids ready to move up. We’ll start with a successful wrestling season because a lot of our kids are wrestlers, then they’ll roll into track and have a successful season. And then we’re back getting ready for cross country next year.”
Washington had two representatives in the Class 4 boys race. Ethan Bliss finished in 54th place in a time of 16:56.5. Logan Luttrell finished in 88th place in 17:27.1.
“I’m so proud of the boys. They went out and attacked the course. They made themselves uncomfortable from the first 200 meters. They fought to hang on to everything they had,” Olszowka said. “Logan was a minute and 20 second improvement from last week. Ethan ran a minute and 30 second PR and a minute and 40 seconds faster than last week. For kids to do that, they’re doing the right things. This is going to put Ethan in a place where people are going to start looking at him collegiately. I know he’s going to work through the whole winter and take Logan with him. They’ll be ready to roll into track and get things started there on the right foot.”
Overall, it was a successful season for the WHS cross country program.
“When you step back and look from the day we started the season until now, it was a great season. The kids showed up, they put in the work. We’re just going to convince them that we’re going to work harder. The big thing that will help us is the summer. They’ve got to do a better job in the summer,” Olszowka said. “When you look at what we accomplished this season, there were constant improvements. Barring a couple of injuries, I think we might be a top four team now, which means we’re definitely a top four contender next year.”
Washington High School junior Julia Donnelly receives her All-State Medal from WHS Cross Country Coach Mike Olszowka during the MSHSAA Class 4 Cross Country Campionships November 5 in Columbia. Donnelly finished the Class 4 girls race in fourth place in a time of 18:38.2.
Pictured are the top 25 finishers who earned all-state honors in the Class 4 girls race at the MSHSAA Cross Country Championships November 5 in Columbia.
Washington High School junior Julia Donnelly earned All-State honors by finishing the Class 4 girls race in fourth place in a time of 18:38.2 during the MSHSAA Cross Country Championships November 5 in Columbia. Also pictured is WHS Cross Country Coach Mike Olszowka.
