Columbus North High School

Note: Article written and submitted by head cross country coach Rick Sluder. On Saturday, the Columbus Thorn Running Club, the club team for Columbus North Cross Country, competed at the RunningLane National Championships in Huntsville, AL. The race was held on the nationally-recognized John Hunt Cross Country Running Park course. Thorn runners had their overall best day of the season and one of their best postseason days in recent years. This event serves as one of two nationally recognized team championships in the country each year. The Gold race served as the National Championship division. The Girls Championship team- composed of Kyleigh Wolf, Carys Glyn-Jones, Tristan Works, Emma Lowther, Adira Sluder, Macy Eaton, and Kodi Smith- finished an amazing third to get a podium spot. This is the first podium finish for a CNXC team in the six years of the event. The team scored 119 points to finish behind two outstanding teams from Texas. Wolf led the team with a 63rd place time of 18:35, a personal record. Glyn-Jones and Works followed closely behind in 74th and 107th places. Lowther and Sluder finished almost tied in 143rd and 145th places, respectively. Sluder also ran a personal record on the day. Eaton and Smith closed out the team finishing in 183rd and 203rd, respectively. The Boys Championship team also had an outstanding podium performance, finishing an identical 3rd place. Their score of 141 was just behind two Colorado teams. Jace Works moved through the field to finish 45th and earn an Honorable Mention All-American spot with a near-best time of 15:25. Neal White, Justin Reckers, and Jonathan Klaus were just behind Works. White was 73rd in 15:38 after falling early. Reckers finished with a huge personal best in 15:42 to finish 85th with Klaus just behind in 15:47 and 101st place. Logan Vanzant closed out the scoring with a 153rd place finish and a 16:02 effort. Evan Bense finished 188th in the huge field with a 16:23 time. The Boys Silver team, a race with varsity teams who were not selected for the Championship race, finished an outstanding podium spot with their runner-up finish. They were only 15 points from winning with their 150-point total. Graham Pumphrey led a mass CNXC finish with his 29th place. He was just in front of Sam Steinmetz and Joseph Day, who finished 30th and 35th, respectively. Day's time of 16:18 lowered his already school record for freshmen in school history. Cole Stevens and Leyton Hottell closed out the scoring with a strong 56th and 102nd places each. Rohan Norris was the Top 6th Runner in the entire field with 17:19 time and 72nd team placing. The Girls Silver team finished a close 3rd in the team standings and the Boys Bronze team finished 9th out of 24 teams.