Ringgold’s McMichael, C-M’s Weese win titles at county coaches meet
MONONGAHELA – Kirsten McMichael had a unique way to prepare for Monday afternoon’s Washington County Coaches Cross Country Meet at Mingo Park.
The night before, McMichael and some of her Ringgold High School teammates filled a garbage can with ice and water, then stepped in and stayed.
Why put yourself under such, ahem, chilling conditions?
“It gets rid of inflammation,” the junior said.
McMichael’s unique preparation certainly paid dividends, as she won the girls race in 19:20.3, breaking her own school record. McMichael’s finish was 25 seconds faster than promising freshman Sydney Wehn of Peters Township.
In the boys race, Jonathan Weese, a junior from Canon-McMillan, edged teammate Ethan Linderman by 1.2 seconds when he crossed in 16:13.2. Peters Township freshman Shaun Hay, whose mother, Kathy Knabb, won this event four times, took third and was five seconds off the pace.
Peters Township placed first in the girls Class AAA team race and McGuffey won in Class AA. Canon-McMillan took the boys Class AAA team title, while Chartiers-Houston took the title for Double-A teams.
For McMichael, it was the third straight win in this event. The Ringgold junior has a chance to be one of a handful of runners to win four county coaches title next year.
The ice bath record at Ringgold is 15 minutes and held by – who else – McMichael.
“It just sort of makes you numb,” she said. “Then they pull you out and you wait to get feeling back.”
Then you take off for an impressive run over the 3.1-mile course, not letting a little rain or the cloudy day affect you.
“I love to run in the rain,” McMichael said. “I hate the hot weather.”
McMichael passed Wehn at the one-mile mark and never looked back. It was the first time the two runners competed in this event.
“Her times are good, and she has a good kick,” said Wehn. “She’s been running for a while, and she’s always beaten me. She’s really good.”
Wehn, whose twin sister Ally finished 15th and older sister Delaney was ninth, had a time of 19:56.5. She was 48th out of 261 runners in the Red, White & Blue Classic in Schenley Park and was 18th out of 88 runners at the Slippery Rock University Invitational, both September races.
Her pre-race methods are a little less severe than those of McMichael.
“I just do a lot of mileage,” she said. “I do a lot of core building.”
Interestingly, Linderman persuaded Weese to give up soccer and come out for the cross country team this year.
“We’re pretty close,” said Linderman, who blew away his previous personal-best with a 16.15.6 finish, 26 faster than his old PR. “We help each other in practice.”
Linderman was 4-0 in section meets and was 33rd out of 2,853 males at the Maymont Festival in Richmond, Va. Sept. 28.
Weese also set a personal-best with a 16:13.2 finish, 40 seconds better than the old mark.
“Ethan is an outstanding long-distance runner,” Weese said. “We enjoy pushing each other. He gets me on those hills. We stress teamwork. We prepare for the next meet as a team and we help each other.”
The next major challenge will come at the WPIAL Championships, set for Thursday Oct. 24 at Cooper’s Lake near New Castle.