Gilmour Academy Senior middle distance runner Bekka Simko to continue education and running careers at Penn State University.

Will Henry of Trotwood-Madison has verbally committed to continue his education and track and field career at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.

I love how a race can be a profound metaphor for life in a broader sense.  And just like a good Biblical parable, it can teach you a lot about yourself, others, and the way to be successful and happy.  I decided to pick out a few anecdotes that some of the girls that I covered this weekend taught me. 

Megan Goethals and Chelsey Sveinsson battle to the line, Lukas Verzbicas dominates front-to-back in the boys race.  Tons of coverage from our on-site team...

This week marks the end of the Cross Country season as the final national meet of the year, Foot Locker Nationals, took place at Balboa Park in San Diego.  Ohio's lone representative was Colby Alexander of Strongsville.

The first of the two national high school cross country championship races were held this past weekend in Portland, Oregon with the Nike Cross Nationals. The boys' race certainly featured many of the nation's best battling it out to the wire, while the girls' race was missing the unofficial "Big 3" in Megan Goethals (MI), Chelsey Sveinsson (TX), and Aisling Cuffe (NY) but stellar depth was found in both races as Foot Locker finalists, All-Americans, and state champions were found deep into the field.  

For the girls Magnificat, running as Rocky River XC Club, finished fifth overall, with Madeline Chambers taking 8th indvidually.  North Royalton's Hannah Neczypor finished 11th overall and on the boys side, Zach Wills of Mason finished 5th overall.

It takes some composure to stick to your plan when you're running shoulder-to-shoulder with the crowd over the whoop-de-doos. Photo by Alan Versaw.