When it came down to the last class race of the day, the Panthers had only one athlete to place on the starting line: Bailey Duncan. Earlier in the week, minor soreness prevented him from completing a key workout. But we knew that come race time, Bailey's toughness could overcome circumstances. A quarter of the way through his 2 mile race, he found himself in the back of the breakaway pack of 6. To earn a top three medal, he had to rely on solid race tactics and the ultimate panther toughness to capture third place. He need to elevate his toughness to the next level, reminiscent of that of former Panther teammate Sean Eustis. He was definitely the toughest Panther of the day, maybe the toughest runner of the meet! No other team entered just one runner in a class and was 1 for 1 in the medal Count.
Or would 7th grader Olivia Dinnel have to settle for a DQ Blizzard (promised by her parents) if she won the race? Without knowing the answer to that question, she was highly motivated as she prepared for a race even before receiving her Panther uniform... and found a way to run the race of her life. Although Olivia has been racing for years, she was not known for having fluent and efficient form. Today that changed! Every step was a stride of smoothness as she waltzed to an impressive 2nd place finish. 15 minutes after the race, we were pleasantly surprised that medals were to be awarded to the top three in the open race as well as the class races. This brought to her face one of the biggest smiles of the day for Panther runners as she received what she was hoping for.