Amidst State Dreams, District Title Not To Be Overlooked

RYAN KIRACOFE

Ask any of Turpin’s top six male runners about last weekend’s District Championship, and the response will invariably be the same: it was just another day at the office. The race that, just a few years ago, was “The Race” for Turpin guys is now just a steppingstone. Ask any of the runners about what matters during this postseason, and you’ll hear phrases like “just keep advancing” and “stay fresh for Columbus.”

Columbus? When Head Coach Jim Gossett first came to Turpin, the idea of Scioto Downs in November seemed as far-off as the World Series or Super Bowl. The State race never even crossed the minds of Turpin runners in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. The biggest race, the culmination of any season was the District Championship. Sure, if people ran really well, maybe Turpin would have a shot at fourth. Maybe. Just a few PR’s would have been nice.

Now, it’s 2007, and those days seem like ancient history. The Spartan men are District Champions, and to them…well, it’s not a huge deal. The title is the first in Division 1 in the history of the men’s program (the Spartans won a Division 2 district title in 1990).

In the old days, a Turpin runner would only dream of finishing in the top 16 and advancing individually to the Regional meet. Four finished in the top 16 on Saturday. Four. Yikes.

The focus with which this men’s team operates is incredible. The only thing that matters is advancing and succeeding in Columbus. Does each of the runners want a PR? Yes. Do they want to place well individually? Yes. But if you speak with any of them after a race and ask how it went, the immediate response is, without fail, how the team placed, and how the team felt about its performance.

I spoke on the phone with senior captain Kyle Rewick last Saturday night after the District race. Rewick was fresh off a third place finish at VOA, right in front of sophomore phenom Nicholas El-Khoury, who was fourth. Since Gossett’s arrival, Turpin has never had one runner, much less two, finish that well in a District race. Rewick, while appreciative when I mentioned this distinction that he’d just earned, shrugged it off. It was just another step. He was more concerned with getting Drew DiSabatino back and healthy for the Regional race.

This is the attitude that the Turpin men have taken on, and it’s a beautiful thing. It’s everything that a coach, a fan base, or in my case, a proud alum could ever ask for.

Lest we forget that Turpin owns the girls’ individual District Champion as well, in senior Sam Patty. Amidst all the hullabaloo surrounding Turpin’s exciting men’s team, Patty quietly has set herself up for a run at the school’s first individual Regional title since the legendary Carolyn Rauen did it in 2001. Junior Kaitlin Price is coming on at the right time, and if the supporting cast continues to step up, who knows what could happen?

For Turpin cross country, the “glory days” no longer have to be the seasons of Carolyn Rauen, Melanie Price and Corey Randall; the glory days are now. While I love the focused attitude of the Turpin athletes, we as fans need to take time to smell the roses.

So enjoy this postseason. Runners, parents, fans and friends should appreciate how far the men’s program has come. Sure, the District race may have just been an obstacle along the Spartans’ run towards Scioto Downs, but we should remember how much a District title would mean to so many teams. You never know when it will happen again.