Boyd 3-Peats

By TJ MAXWELL

Cove Leader-Press

TEMPLE – Copperas Cove junior Amber Boyd earned her third-consecutive trip to the Region II-6A Cross Country Meet at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie to be held next week.

Boyd’s time of 19 minutes, 0.4 seconds was good enough for third place behind Belton’s Brooke Gilmore (18:13.1) and Olivia Houlden (18:54.2).

“I’m excited.” Boyd said after the race. “It’s a great feeling to know that I made it to regionals three years in a row. It was hard with the inclines and hills but it only makes you better. I was really trying to beat my time from a couple weeks ago and I’m really disappointed that I didn’t, but I feel good.”

Boyd’s disappointed that her teammates won’t be joining her this year after both the girls’ and boys’ teams qualified a year ago, but she feels they will be ready next year.

“I feel like the team is good but maybe not as good as last year just because we got a new coach,” she said. “I feel like next year, we’ll be better prepared. We know her and she’s getting to know us, and our faults. We’ll keep progressing and training over the summer. We’ll lose a couple seniors, but our team is pretty young with mostly juniors and sophomores so we’ll have a pretty good team still.”

Girls’ head cross country coach Eldridge McAdams credits Boyd’s success to her mental toughness and knows the junior will only be better next year because of it.

“That’s the key to the success she’s having,” he said. “She’s training her mind as well as her body. She’s not where she can be and I know she’s going to put that extra work in to get there. You can see her level of maturity as a freshman to where she’s at now. I’m excited to see how she’s going to come in next year. I know she’ll put the work in. 

“When it comes to running and training (cross country), it has to be something that you really love to do. She puts in the work and it shows.”

Boyd pretty much held her ground the entire race. Boyd got near the front by the funnel at the start of the race and was fourth place about halfway through the race but made her move on the steady incline mid-way through the course.

She reflected on the mental aspects of cross-country running and the course after the race. 

“It’s very hard,” she said. “Running three miles at basically top speed is hard. You have to learn to pace yourself and not get out too fast or too slow. You have to put the pain behind you. You can’t think about it. You just have to think about how you can push yourself more than your body is telling you. You can run faster and harder than what you feel like you can.”

Boyd hopes she can finally break through into the top 30 to earn a trip to the State meet in Georgetown.

“I just know I’m progressing my times,” she said. “The times are getting closer together and I’m getting better. I just hope to place in the top 30 this year at regionals.”

“She’s seizing the moment – having the opportunity to place and extend that season again,” said McAdams. “This is her third trip and we’re really excited for her.”

The girls’ team finished in fourth place, just a combined 2:14.5 behind third-place team and final qualifier Midway, who had a total time of 1:43:45.5. Cove combined for a time of 1:45:31. 

Kaylee Steele finished second for Cove and 18th overall with a time of 20:49.9, followed by Juyah Robinson (29th - 21:40.6), Olivia Rios (33rd – 21:56.3), Keturah Taylor (34th – 22:03.7). Not included in the team time were Marissa Thomas (36th – 22:08.2) and Ciera Ryan (48th – 25:13.1). Only the top five times count towards the team total.

Junior Michael Aker will represent the Cove boys’ in Grand Prairie. He finished eighth overall with a time of 17:00.1 to qualify for the Region II-6A meet.

After be nestled in the middle of the pack for much of the race, Aker reached for some soccer experience and poured it on during the final downhill portion of the race to secure his spot in Grand Prairie for the second-straight year.

A conversation with head coach Billy White Jr. on the previous day helped Aker get the qualifying spot. The two discussed how most of the boys on the squad are not primarily cross-country runners but basketball and soccer players and they know how to win down the stretch.

“About halfway through, I got really tired,” said Aker. “I got little bit of an energy boost when I was coming around on the loop. We came yesterday and coach (Billy) White. I told him we were going to have a little advantage because most of our team is not cross-country runners. We play soccer or basketball and things like that so we’re going to have an advantage on the last sprint, especially because it’s downhill and we’re a little bit faster than everybody else. I think that helped me a little bit considering cross-country wasn’t my main sport for the longest time.” 

“When it’s the fourth quarter or the 93rd minute, whatever the case may be, you have to dig deep and fight in those situations and I think that’s exactly what Mike did today on that back half. He told me a few minutes ago, ‘Coach, if you hadn’t yelled at me to remember what we discussed yesterday, I don’t think I would have finished in the top 10.’ It was great to see he’s understand and grasping strategy.”

Teammate William “Chase” Thomas just missed the cut by a mere 4.2 seconds. He had originally thought he nabbed the 10th–place spot but later found out he just missed out.

He credits his 11th place finish to keeping pace with Aker but wishes he could have had just a little more energy in reserve for a late surge.

“This being a smaller race with fewer people, it’s tougher to find the pack that you run with,” said Thomas. “I was actually trying to stick with Mike’s pack and that actually pushed me to get that 11th place and not falling any further behind. I might have pushed myself too hard in some places and lost a lot of energy, but I think running with them actually got me further ahead.”

Thomas will be an alternate at regionals but is really excited to get back at it to prepare for next year.

“I think next year, with all the juniors and sophomores we have, we’re going to get first next year for district and we’re going as a team to regionals,” he said.

Aker is disappointed Thomas didn’t qualify but is glad he’s coming on the trip.

“We thought we were going to regionals together, but it’s just going to be me. He’ll come as my alternate. It will be his job to keep me out of trouble when we get up there. 

White is disappointed that his whole team didn’t make it out after qualifying last year, but is proud of their effort.

“I’m a little upset for these kids that they didn’t get to make it out again to regionals, but they did come out here, compete well and set (personal records),” he said. “I’m proud of them for that and for the work they’ve put in all year.”

As for Aker in Grand Prairie, White just wants him to keep absorbing like a sponge so he can mentor next year’s team that he expects to be at regionals.

“Going into regionals, I just want him to compete and understand how to run that course so when we do come back and we take the team out next year, he can help mentor those younger guys that will be there with him.”