Two teams, good season

Natalia Ghan
Staff Writer
 
Men's XC

Apex boys at the state meet.

The Apex Men’s Cross Country Team closed their season placing third in the NCHSAA 4A State Championships. Finishing 5^th at last year’s regional meet, no one foresaw how strong the team would become in just one year. Coach Cooper describes how, “The team’s progression is attributed to them. They decided to get to work, and they put in a lot of miles.” The boys exceeded expectations all season, and even at the state meet finished three places higher than MileSplit.com had predicted based on the regional results. To achieve 3^rd place,
the boys had to see one another and move together. Junior Jonathan Seith describes how, “My focus was to be right behind Brock, and run with Jordan throughout the race.” Likewise, sophomore Erik Salgado recalls how, “I didn’t want to lose sight of Jonathan.” Another large part of the state meet strategy was for senior Mihret Coulter to place at the very front of the race. Coulter was running within a tight pack of runners at the two mile mark, and with a quarter mile to go, it came down to who had the best kick. Coulter describes how, “I was confident from all my workouts,” and seized fourth place with a time of 15:24.00, marking the fastest 5K in the history of Apex High School. Coulter is hoping to run cross country for either N.C. State, ECU, or UNC next fall.

2013 Men’s 4A Cross Country State Meet Participants: Mihret Coulter (15:24.00), Carl Geiger (16:10.18), Wyatt Miller (16:32.84), Jonathan Seith (16:33.15), Jordan Kokoska (16:49.34), Erik Salgado (17:01.64), and Spencer Colwell (17:19.79).


Women's XC

Apex XC ladies getting ready to race at WakeMed Park.

Apex Women’s Cross Country ended their season placing 5th in the region out of 20 teams. Finishing just one place away from advancing to the state meet, the team improved greatly since the first meet, due to what Coach Cooper describes as, “depth and willingness to work.” Many upperclassmen
encouraged the Apex girls to step up in cases of injury throughout the season. Senior Captain Rachel Jones, with her determination to get better, dropped nearly a minute throughout the season. Jones describes how, “Being injured junior year made me realize how lost I would be without running. It is painful, but it’s worth every second. So I didn’t want to take this season for granted.” Junior Rachel Grotheer went from a middle pack to front pack runner. “I was closer to placing in the top 15 for Apex this year, and with this goal insight, I continued to train.” Sophomore Savannah Dupree explains how, “I want to be able to look back and see... wow, I’ve moved up.” The Apex ladies hope to continue to build on the team, and next year, qualify for the State Meet.