COLUMBUS, Ind. — Mackenzie Barnett had a few goals coming into her senior cross-country season, and she came tantalizingly close to meeting all of them.
Barnett wanted to earn All-State, run in every meet for Columbus North without injury, run under 19 minutes in every race and run sub-18 once. She achieved all of them, except the last one, and she came within four seconds of that.
“I’m really happy with my last season,” said Barnett, The Republic Girls Cross-Country Runner of the Year. “I couldn’t have asked for better. Our team finished third at state), which we were super excited about, and I met most of my goals for the season.”
Barnett shattered one of those goals. In a sport in which the top 25 earn All-State honors, she finished seventh at the state meet.
“I just wanted to go for as many places as I could, and I couldn’t ask for better than seventh, so I was super excited about that.”
That was by far the best state-meet finish for Barnett. She had missed the postseason her sophomore year because of a stress fracture in her left shin and problems with her calf.
Last year, Barnett missed one meet with as Achilles strain, but returned for the postseason and finished 44th at state.
“I was really thankful that I was healthy just so I could be there with my team at every race and not have to miss any training or anything either,” Barnett said.
Barnett won Conference Indiana, sectional, regional and semistate titles. Her time of 18:04 for 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) in the North Regional at Ceraland ranks second on the school’s all-time list behind Mackenzie Caldwell.
“Statistically, she probably had the second-best individual season of any Columbus North girls runner,” North coach Rick Sluder said. “That was kind of outstanding and fun to watch. She just continued that progress. We didn’t get to have that track season and people didn’t get to see her run close to 11 minutes in the 3,200. It was just hard work. She’s one of the hardest workers we’ve had, and you mix that with talent and consistency, and it made all the difference.”
Sluder said Barnett was one of the team’s big leaders through the COVID-19 quarantine, when coaches could not meet with teams and runners were left to train on their own, and also throughout the season.
“She organized runs when we couldn’t meet in April, May and June when we couldn’t get together,” Sluder said. “That example, all the girls fed off of that. Her leadership was definitely what got us on the podium (at state) the last two years.”
Barnett said it took some getting used to running by herself during the quarantine.
“There was awhile where we were on our own,” Barnett said. “I would just run by myself some, and then when things started opening up, we would meet in small groups sometimes. It was different, but I’m glad we got through it and I’m just grateful we were able to have our season. Our team worked harder than we ever have, and it was a good last season.”
Shortly after the semistate meet, Barnett made her college decision. She plans to run cross-country and track at Lipscomb, a Division I school in Nashville, Tennessee.
“It’s nice to know where I’m going next year, and I’m excited to keep running in college and know that I’m not done yet,” Barnett said. “I just want to keep improving myself and see what I can do.”
