What a week! Congratulations to all of our athletes for enduring an entire six-month training block and finishing with some of the best times in school and state history.
We kicked off last week with our Celebration Mile, and multiple athletes ran new season or lifetime PRs! It was a fun night with music, a spectacular beagle mix, and tons of cheering as our JV runners completed their season.
State was exceptional this year! We started off with a bang, as Bella Nelson and Ava Cornelius both ran lifetime PRs in the 3200m to take 1st and 3rd place, respectively. Bella set a new State Meet record in the event, and Ava left no doubt as to who the top runner in the state will be next season.
Following the 3200m, the girls ran an unbelievable 4x800m relay, taking down the two-time defending champions at Jenks. Lilith Johnson set the tone with a tough first leg, followed by Stella Jones and Erin Hendrick with two more perfectly run 800s. Erin blew the doors off of Jenks’ 3rd leg to hand off to Bella with a nice gap, and Bella slammed the door. It was a beautiful race with each girl doing her part and setting up the next girl in the best way possible. Absolutely incredible!
On Saturday, Bella came back and set a new School, State Meet, and State record on her way to winning the 800m in DOMINATE fashion. Lilith also had a great race, earning a new PR and finishing in 9th place. Finally, at the end of the meet, Bella and Ava teamed up again to smash the rest of the field in the 1600m. Both girls aggressively ran to the front at the start of the race and never looked back. It was amazing to watch!
This is my 25th year coaching in Oklahoma, and I don’t remember any distance team ever having as good a year as our girls just had. Here’s the recap…
2024 – State Cross Country – TEAM State Champions with the fastest 1-5 combined scoring time ever in State meet history. Individual State Champion with Bella Nelson and four girls earning All-State honors, including Bella, Ava Cornelius, Quinn Thomason, and Lilith Johnson.
2025 – State Track – State Champion and new State Meet record in the 3200m with Bella Nelson, followed closely by Ava Cornelius. 4×800 State Champions with one of the fastest times in State history. 800m State Champion and State Record set by Bella Nelson. 1600m State Champion and State Runner-Up with Bella Nelson and Ava Cornelius.
The girls won every single distance race at State between XC and Track, both as a team and as individuals. I think it is the first time ever! It has been truly an amazing year and an incredible honor to coach these outstanding young ladies!
Now it’s time to get the boys geared up and ready to make some noise. I aim to have both teams back on the podium and fighting for Championships again this fall!
Congratulations also to our graduating seniors! It is an emotional week as we honor those athletes and watch them move on. This class has been exceptional, and seeing them go will be so difficult! Thank you to each of you who contributed so much to the ORXC and Owasso Distance programs and to all of the parents who supported you and the TEAM. We love you all!
This week, we will take a training break and let everyone (coaches included) rest. We will have a short team meeting on Monday with our current Junior class regarding goals and plans for the summer, and then we will meet with our Freshman and Sophomore runners on Tuesday. Practice will end at 2:45 on both days. We will get the Fieldhouse cleaned up on Wednesday. We will be done at 2:45 again. Thursday and Friday are block scheduling, so there will be no practice on Thursday. If athletes are at school on Friday, practice will start shortly after 12:00, but we won’t be running. Parents are encouraged and welcome to check out and pick up their kids.
Remember, our Striders program will kick off the XC season on June 9th. I will send runners an easy build-up to get ready. I encourage them to take some time off now, but not wait to start running until June. It’s much easier to maintain fitness than it is to gain it!
Thank you all again for a special season! Another big thank you to all the parents who helped so much at State. It is always a relief to finally cross the finish line, but I’m already excited to get things rolling for XC! I can’t wait! Enjoy the next few weeks away, and we’ll see everyone again soon! GO RAMS!!!!
Off Week Schedule
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wJlo5qm0IRavrIPk1OnkkRHsgS_38uv-F3tysw3ImKE/edit?usp=drivesdk