The Lady Cyclones have done it again.
After winning the District 1-A/AA cross country meet at Doe River Gorge last Thursday, the Lady Cyclones came on top during the Region 1-A/AA girls’ cross country meet at Daniel Boone High School Thursday evening.
During a tight race, the Lady Cyclones outpaced L&N Stem Academy of Knoxville by just two points as EHS recorded 43 points to L&N’s 45. Following up in third was University High with 47 points.
“These girls have done this all year long,” said EHS head Mark Newman after Thursday’s race. “They have been training for this. We knew what we needed to do when we came in.”
Lady Cyclone senior Heather Feuchtenberger finished in first place as she raced across the finish line with a time of 20:39.4, topping L&N Stem’s Lauren Bretscher, who finished second at 21:08.4.
“Heather ran a great strategic race,” Newman said. “She hung with Lauren from L&N Stem, and then she just dropped her. She caught up with her and passed her where she needed to do it.”
For Feuchtenberger, who also shines in track and field for the Lady Cyclones, her strategy during Thursday’s race was pretty simple — pass anyone that was in front of her.
“My strategy was to just run hard,” she said. “Everybody I see, just pass them and get them on the hills. The hills are my strong point. I just went out there with the goal to win and it went really well.”
Coming into Thursday, Feuchtenberger said she knew how good Bretscher from L&N Stem was and made it her goal to stick with her throughout the race.
“I thought maybe I could get her at the end,” Feuchtenberger said. “That is kind of what I did. I used the hills to my advantage, and that is how it played out.”
The Lady Cyclones, also known as the “Fab Five”, had three girls finish in the top 15 to make the all-region team. EHS sophomore Lauren Pilkton (21:38.3) sped to a fifth place finish while Lady Cyclone senior Maci Shell grabbed a tenth-place finish with a time of 21:57.0. Senior Randi Feuchtenberger (23:15.8), Heather’s sister, crossed the finish line in 16th. EHS junior Julia Schubert (24:02.6) took 22nd after a battle with UH’s Anna Davidson (24:04.3).
“Our girls are strong on the hills,” Newman said. “That is something we have talked about and prided ourselves on this year. They attacked the hills.”
With Thursday’s win, the Lady Cyclones qualified for the TSSAA State Class A/AA Girls’ Cross Country Meet on Nov. 5 at the Steeplechase Course in Nashville.
“They have all ran state before so they are all familiar with the area over there,” said Newman. “It has been three years in a row that they have gone as a team.”
The Happy Valley Lady Warriors finished in eighth with 202 team points. The Lady Warriors had two girls finish in the top 50 with freshman Chelsea Arnold taking 38th with a time of 26:19.0. Happy Valley freshman Madison Wagner (27:26.8) came in 47th.