LAWRENCE, Kan. – Morgan Wedekind used her knowledge of Rim Rock Farm to cement her second victory on the course. And that was all that mattered to the Valley Center junior.
Wedekind won the Kansas Class 5A state title on the University of Kansas course last fall in 15:09, but she had to settle for fourth place in her two previous Rim Rock Farm Classic appearances.
Saturday she used her familiarity with the course to capture the Crimson Division title in 15:25. “I had not gotten first at this meet, and so I really wanted to get first and didn’t care what my time was,” Wedekind said. “I knew that I couldn’t push too hard at the beginning of the race or I would die at the end, well die worse than I did. I paced myself this race like I did all the rest of my races.”
Wedekind said she got trapped in the large field at the start and had to battle through the throng of more than 200 runners to move into position to attack the lead. Mariah Anthony of Lansing (Kan.) had the lead early, but Wedekind overtook her in the second mile. “I didn’t worry about (Anthony); I just wanted to run my race and see if I could beat her,” Wedekind said. “I didn’t know she was in my race. We didn’t know what was coming, so the strategy was just run.”
Wedekind said her second victory on the Rim Rock course doesn’t mean a third victory at this year’s state meet will come any easier, but she said Saturday’s win was an important milestone and will help boost her self-confidence for the coming weeks. “It makes me more confident with my running that my training is paying off,” Wedekind said.
In the Blue Division, Sammy Laurenzo of Liberty North (Mo.) also used her previous experience on the Rim Rock course to run down a victory.
Laurenzo took third at the meet last year, but she knew where to make her move and captured first in 15:05 on Saturday. “I remembered the last hill over by the barn,” Laurenzo said. “I was kind of worried about it because last year here I got passed right around the two-mile mark by two people.”
Laurenzo ran beside teammate Stephanie Boan, a freshman, through the first half of the race. Laurenzo said it was never planned to pair up, but she did enjoy the added pressure Boan put on her throughout the race. “I knew it was Stephanie because I heard people yelling, ‘It’s Stephanie right behind you,’ so it made me want to go faster,” Laurenzo said. “And I’m sure it made her want to go faster.”
Boan said she does pace herself off Laurenzo in practice and races. But she was also a little intimidated lining up with such a large field to begin the race. “It was a little bit scary, but I’ve been running since eighth grade last year so I’m used to it,” Boan said. “But it’s still really scary.”
Boan tried to keep her sights on Laurenzo through the second half of the race, and that helped propel her to a runner-up finish in the Blue race in 15:37.
Boan said it was the team’s first 4k, so she didn’t enter the meet with a specific time in mind. But she did think her ability to keep pace with Laurenzo and compete against such a large field will only vault her to even better times and races in the future. “It helps me to keep in mind of what I’m capable of really,” Boan said. “I look back at my past meets and tell myself I can do it because I’ve done it before.”