North Callaway Overcomes Near 5:00 1-5 Split For First Ever Trophy
All year long, we knew what the North Callaway girls were working with. Not a historically great cross country team, Coach Chad Craghead has had to build his team from the ground up essentially and on Saturday, the Thunderbirds reached the promised land as they were able to grab their first trophy in team history in only their second trip (their first coming just last year). According to Coach Craghead, when he took over in 2013, there were three total runners on the team and no junior high program but now, five years later, there are 20 athletes on the time and a successful junior high program that has now churned out a 4th place team in Class 2.
Led by senior Kyla Bertschinger in 10th, the T-Birds put 3 in the top 21 with their 4th coming across in 27th. With 3 in the top 30, North Callaway appeared poised to be a contender for a top 2 finish. Fatima had already put 5 across the line, including 3 of the top 6, so the victory was out of the question, but sophomore Daelyn Schmauch (16th), freshman Kaleigh Moore (21st), and senior Reyna Schmauch (27th) all came across within 15 seconds of each other to combine with Bertschinger to score 60 points across their top 4. With a 5th finisher in 45-60 range, North Callaway would have taken the 2nd place trophy. But alas, as those who have been following along this season know, the Thunderbirds have been struggling to find that 5th runner all season and sophomore Brianna Douglas became their #5 on this day, coming across in 138th. She scored 76 points by herself, 16 more than her first four teammates. North Callaway's 1-5 split of 4:47 was one of the largest ever seen out of a podium team in state history as they were able to actually secure 4th by a fairly wide margin (37 points) over 5th place Jefferson R-VII.
The 4th place finish is no small feat for these girls, but in order to keep it going, they will need to replace Bertschinger and the elder Schmauch on their roster. If Coach Craghead can get them this far from where he started, though, then the sky is the limit with this program. We did not get to catch up with the ladies after their race, but spoke with them on Friday: