Faith Academy girls cross country wins district title

CAPTION: Faith Academy of Marble Falls cross country runners Mcklayne Apel (standing, left), Eden Thames, Zoe Rhoads, Abby Kosoglow, Jasmine Young and Zoey Wider with Faith head coach Steven McCannon (kneeling, left) and Olympic silver medalist Leonel Manzano. Courtesy photo

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls girls cross country team hoisted the District 3-3A championship of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Oct. 19.

The Faith Academy program hosted the meet at its own course.

The Lady Flames were led by junior Zoe Rhoads, who finished the two-mile course in 15 minutes to get the bronze medal in the individual standings. She was the first of four Lady Flames to cross the finish line.

“It’s only her second race, and she set a new personal record,” head coach Steve McCannon said.

Sophomore Mcklayne Apel came in fourth in 15:04.22, freshman Abby Kosoglow was fifth in 15:06.93, freshman Jasmine Young finished sixth in 16:58.07, freshman Eden Thames came in seventh in 18:33.83, and junior Zoe Wider was 10th in 20:33.67.

In the boys 5K race, junior Michael Fessler earned the individual bronze thanks to clocking 19:08.01, freshman Joseph Tatum was 10th in 21:30.30, junior Darian Chumley was 14th in 23:31.50, and junior Jason Kennedy was 18th in 34:49.69.

“Michael is a new guy, and he finished third in his first ever race,” McCannon said.

This season was different because the Faith program had newcomers to the sport, who needed to get on courses to discover how to race.

“I think what they learned is to be mentally prepared, especially if the race is smaller,” the coach said. “The clock is always running. There’s a mental preparation to be race ready. That race went fast. It’s over before you know it. And you don’t know it until you go through it.”

He also hopes his runners saw their finishes as a starting point for their training for the state meet, which is Monday, Oct. 28, at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course, 5200 Bagby Ave. in Waco.

“We’ll see the bigger drops at state,” McCannon said. “I’m glad they got another race. We weren’t satisfied with our times. That’s a little motivation for state. The No. 1 priority is state and taking dead aim to be on the podium.”

The program hosted its annual invitational in addition to the district meet. The invitational drew 90 female and 150 male runners, the most in the history of the event.

McCannon said the program purposely conducted both meets on this date because it’s about 10 days out from the TAPPS state meet.

“We put our meet in the middle to help as many programs as possible,” he said. “You’re getting a race in before state. I like to give as many kids a chance to run.”

Also in attendance was 2004 Marble Falls High School graduate Leonel Manzano, who captured the 2012 Olympic silver medal in the men’s 1,500 meters. Manzano works closely with the KIPP Austin College Prep runners, who participated in the Faith invitational.

While at the meet, Manzano talked with runners, met with fans and took pictures while also promoting his Leo the Lion the Lion apparel. His goal is to help grow the sport of running.

“Faith Academy wants to help Leo,” McCannon said. “We definitely want to grow the sport and help him.”