Lady Knights cross country extends state streak to five straight appearances

Counting off the number of straight state qualifying appearances for the West Holmes Lady Knights cross country program now requires all the fingers on one hand.

Kevin Beachy’s talented cast of lady harriers earned the program’s fifth straight state appearance and counting during this year’s OHSAA Division III state championship Saturday, Nov. 1 at Fortress Obetz.

The Lady Knights would go on to place 18th overall as a team, not as good as last season’s school-best 10th-place finish, but it keeps the program’s name among the schools who are perennial favorites to return to compete year after year.

“I’d say this is pretty cool,” Beachy said of the accomplishment. “For the previous four years, we have had the same core three of top individuals who graduated last year. To do it again without that core three is pretty amazing, and we had some new girls step up and deliver in a big way.”

The core three of graduates included Lexy Starner, Zora Starner and Noelle Smith, all of whom went on to compete collegiately this season.

However, the cupboard was far from barren, with returning veteran star seniors Alexis Wagers and Katherine Kaster along with sophomore sensation Iriel Mena.

“Those core three graduates are the reason we started this run, and they established the expectations, but this group wanted to carve their own path to state, and they helped get everyone else to buy in,” Beachy said. “That is a testament to this group’s willingness to pay the price and earn the chance to run at state.”

After five years Beachy said more coaches are recognizing West Holmes as a committed cross country program, and he said this year’s team grew together in some exciting ways after replacing some key runners.

Sophomores Ellie Babbitt and Chelsie Cooper and incoming freshman Sophie Arnold moved into important contributing roles. Senior Serenity McClintock was an alternate the last two years at state, but this year she took a step forward and became a key cog in the machine.

“Serenity finally got her chance to shine and had a great year,” Beachy said. “We kind of knew about Sophie’s abilities through her strong middle school career, but Ellie hadn’t run cross before this year and really helped us. I knew she had run track in middle school, and I saw her in the hall early in school and asked if she would consider running cross this year. She came back the next day and said she was in.”

Beachy said seeing the new faces shine throughout the season was exciting, and runners like Brooklyn Houstack and Barryal Kanuckel performed and improved.

While the past year’s teams ran as a pack, Beachy said this year’s effort was a different beast altogether. He said the three-headed monster up in the front of the pack at each meet went off and did their thing, with Mena, Wagers and Kaster — all of whom added incredible depth to last season’s team — taking on the yoke and driving the wagon forward. He said the youngsters had to feel their way through the season and develop on the run.

“We kind of knew what we had in the big three,” Beachy said. “All three of them had really great seasons. We succeeded in a different way this year with our other girls fighting back farther for every spot.”

Beachy said it didn’t take long for him and his coaching staff to realize this team could make it five straight state appearances.

Beachy said losing a quintet of seniors including hard-working Aliza Sigler and Laini Weber was going to hurt, especially because of their leadership abilities, but he said now that the standards have been set, those growing into roles are eager to keep pace.

“It’s not always just the talent you miss but the leadership and character as well,” Beachy said.

He said being a five-time-consecutive state qualifier brings with it positives and challenges.

“It’s very cool to set the standards and then chase after them every year,” Beachy said. “Everyone loves to win and be successful, and success breeds success, so that is exciting. However, it is kind of a double-edged sword because it can be scary wondering if you can compete at that level of competition. But I’m proud of the way our girls continue to step up and work toward something that has become very special.”

In fact, five times as special, and what the program hopes will continue to grow.