Coleman Wins First Individual Cross Country State Title For Grace

The Grizzlies cross country teams made the trip to the state championships last Saturday with high hopes.  Both the boys and girls teams entered the weekend as contenders for one of the top spots in the state and they did not disappoint their fans.  As if each team finishing in the top three and winning trophies wasn't enough, senior Cally Coleman took the overall top spot in the girls race winning the first cross country state championship in Grace High School history.

The course is a two lap race around beautiful Eagle Island State Park.  In typical Idaho fall fashion the weather ran the full gamut of extremes throughout the day.  This made the race a wet muddy mess.  As the 2A girls race began the storm clouds gathered.  When the runners came down a large hill in one of the course's most popular viewing spots Coleman was running in second place behind a Victory Charter runner.  Just before the leaders appeared on the hill on the second lap the heavens opened up with a barrage of freezing rain that quickly changed to hail.  When the first runner appeared atop the hill it was Grace’s Cally Coleman out in front and she would not give up that position throughout the remainder of the race.  As Coleman crossed the finish line in first place she cemented her name in the Grace school history books as the first cross country state champion in school history.  The rest of the girls braved the hail storm finishing the race through some of the most brutal weather that any of them had faced during any race.  In the end the Lady Grizzlies finished in second place as a team with three of the team finishing in the top twenty.  The Lady Grizzlies competed with just six runners.  Grace will need to replace three of those runners next season due to them being seniors.  Luckily for Grace those three seniors will most likely compete for Grizzlies in the spring when track season
rolls around.

Following the girls race the inclement weather that was accompanied by lightning forced the remaining races to be delayed by more than half an hour.  By the time the Grace men's team took to the course the clouds had parted and the sun had begun to shine.  Even with the sun shining the course was still left in a mess that caused more than one fall by racers running across the slick wet ground.  The Grace boys ran hard and when the race came to an end the Grizzly men found they had finished in third place claiming one of the state trophies.  Third is a familiar spot for the Grace boys team who have finished there for five years running now.  The Grizzlies lose only one runner to graduation so they will be back next year to try to break that streak by moving up in the final standings.