The ODCS ladies Cross Country Team has advanced to the Division III, regional meet...a first in ODCS history!

Amazing effort carries Patriot girls

It took a strong dose of deter­mination and willpower, but the Open Door girls did it. They qualified for the Division III regionals for the first time in the program’s 23-year history.

Open Door scored 131 points to grab the fifth and final qualifying spot at Satur­day’s district meet at Edgewa­ter and advance to the Board­man regional.

No. 11-ranked Burton Berk­shire defended its title with 39 points, followed by No. 14 Gilmour Academy (50), Hawken (98) and Kirtland (117). Freshman Gabrielle Neubauer (ninth, 21:24.5) led the Patriots, while sophomore Sarah Hoff (14th, 21:40.1) topped her personal record by 13 seconds in the No. 2 spot.

Both girls woud have also advanced as individuals.

But the Patriots wouldn’t have qualified as a team with­out their entire lineup rising to the task, especially junior Cassie Crowder. The Patriots’ No. 3 runner, Crowder tem­porarily blacked out and col­lapsed 500 feet from the finish. Somehow she managed to struggle back to her feet and finish 32nd in 22:52.7.

“It was just incredible,” Open Door coach Chris Clark said. “She literally fell across the finish line. That was just an amazing effort. We have two cross country moms that are nurses, plus there was another nurse on staff at the race site who were able to attend to her.”

Crowder lost 13 spots, but without her effort Open Door wouldn’t have been able to hold off sixth-place Middle­field Cardinal (148) for the last qualifying spot.

“It took Cassie quite a while to recover after she reached the finish line,” Neubauer said. “Luckily, she finally got back to her normal self. We just need to make sure she stays healthy and hydrated.”

Crowder was just about back to normal by the time the team got back to the school late Saturday afternoon. She participated in regular team workouts Monday.

Freshman Kelsey Strouse (36th, 23:36.8) and sophomore Sydney Schmidt (40th, 23:59.1) rounded out the top five at districts. Senior Hannah Schu­mick (62nd, 26:20.5) was the Pats’ displacer.

Last year, Open Door fin­ished seventh at the Edgewa­ter district with 237 points.

Hoff, Schmidt and Schumick are returnees from last year’s squad.

“I had gone online and done a couple of virtual meets at www.ohiorunner.milesplit.com,” Clark said. “I knew it was going to be close. I told the girls as we were lining up at the start that we had a very good chance to qualify. I just asked them to ‘run your hearts out.’ I knew it was going to be close.”

The Open Door boys have had several regional-qualifying teams over the years, most recently in 2006, while the girls have produced several individ­ual qualifiers but not a team.

“We’re very excited,” Neubauer said. “Our team works extremely hard. Every single girl on our team deserves this. I can defin itely speak for all of them. I give all the credit to our coach for working us hard and being a great coach. It’s definitely exciting to qualify for region­als. It’s a very cool experience.” Numbers — or the lack thereof — are a big reason the Open Door girls never advanced as a team before.

Prior to 2009, the Patriot girls never even fielded a full var­sity (five-runner minimum) for a district meet.

Paul Heyse, Elyria Chronicle Telegram eEdition, 10/28/2010, Page D05.