When Rick Sluder took over as Columbus North girls cross-country coach this season, he figured on having a pair of seniors in his varsity lineup.
But thanks to injuries to a pair of underclassmen who were in the Bull Dogs’ top five last year, seniors Emma Smith and Sydney Geckler have been counted on to play an even bigger role for North. For most of the season, they’ve been among the five runners who score for the team.
“Emma and Sydney have really been strong for us up front,” Sluder said. “Those two have been really strong on varsity, kind of setting the tone in warmups and stretching and attitude. They’re all-around leaders, both verbal and by showing leadership. Those two have been awesome.”
On Saturday, Smith and Geckler helped the Bull Dogs to a fifth-place finish in the Brown County Semistate, which put North in this week’s state finals.
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A week earlier, Smith ran 19 minutes, 55.70 seconds, and Geckler ran 19:58.03 to finish seventh and ninth overall in the Brown County Regional. They were the Nos. 3 and 4 for the Bull Dogs, who won the regional title.
“This is my first year of being consistently on varsity, and I think that and just being seniors have really helped us lead the team mentally and physically through our workouts throughout the season,” Geckler said.
Geckler has been healthy this year after missing most of the past two seasons with injuries. Her sophomore year, in the Columbus North Invitational at Ceraland, another runner stepped on her foot, breaking it in three places. Last year, she was hobbled by a quad injury.
Both years, Geckler was able to make it back into the Bull Dogs’ top 12 that earned spots on the tournament roster for teams that qualified for state. She shattered her previous personal record of 20:41 — which came in the race she broke her foot her sophomore year — with her 19:58 in the regional.
“The past two years, I’ve had some injuries, so coming into this season, I just wanted to stay healthy so that I could make it through and PR and run the tournament season,” Geckler said.
Geckler and Smith credited staying healthy with doing a lot of stretching, icing and taking care of themselves.
“Our coaches (Sluder and assistant Leslie Weaver) have helped with that, too,” Smith said. “They make sure that we’re all doing what we need to do to stay healthy, making sure that we regularly go to the trainers room and have them scrape our legs or roll us.”
Smith is in her third year of running varsity. She has competed at state each of the past two seasons.
Saturday, Smith will make her third appearance in the state finals when 23rd-ranked North competes at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute.
“I think I’ve had a really good career,” Smith said. “I’m proud that I’ve been on varsity all those times, but I know that my sophomore and even my junior year, it was still a big competition to stay on. At North, there’s always a tough competition. We have a lot of JV girls who could give our sixth or seventh girls a run for their money.”
Neither Smith nor Geckler are planning on running competitively in college, where they will focus on academics. Both recently were named to the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Academic All-State team, and this week, both were named Academic All-State by the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association.
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What: Boys and Girls Cross Country State Finals
When: Saturday, 1 p.m. (girls race) and 1:45 p.m. (boys race)
Where: LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, 599 S. Tabortown Rd., Terre Haute
Teams: 24 girls teams, including Columbus North, and 24 boys teams, including North and Jennings County
Admission: $10 per person
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