Ciara Colwell wraps up state career with PR, 31st-place finish
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HEBRON — Finishing in 31st place, while setting a new personal best, Fairfield senior Ciara Colwell raced her in final high school contest, wrapping up a three-time state-qualifying career at the 2019 OHSAA Division III State Cross-Country Championships.
The Saturday morning race in temperatures of around 40 degrees saw Colwell finish with a time of 19:32.0, setting a new PR as she finished 31st in a field of 180 competitors. In the race, she averaged a 6:16.8 mile, as her times included 5:54.3 at mile one, 12:20.2 at mile two and at the 4200-meter mark a time of 16:25.1.
“This is the best season I’ve ever had, to be honest. I’m really happy I was able to PR in my last race, and I’m going to miss this a lot,” Colwell said following the race. “I’m not going to lie, I was a little disappointed not getting All-Ohio honors, but I raced with my heart, and I did everything that I could, and sometimes that’s all you can ask for. It’s enough sometimes and sometimes it’s not, but you just have to pick yourself back up and learn from it.”
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Compared to last year, as a junior, Colwell had a time of 20:27.1 for a 34th-place finish. As a sophomore, she was 29th place at 19:45.2.
FHS head coach Kesia McCoy shared her thoughts on the race run by Colwell at the National Trail Raceway on Saturday.
“She had a phenomenal race, and this morning we talked about not setting limits for herself and go out there, and she knew this was the last one, and she went out with a bang,” McCoy said. “We saw that the whole race, she was out there fighting and wanted to make the Top 30 spot. We can’t be disappointed with a 19:40 finish, which is about a minute faster than she was last year. To see that she came back, she was definitely ready to run today.
“You know how much these kids sacrifice. What they eat, how much they sleep, how much they drink, their studies in school. High school is a hard thing, and knowing what they sacrifice to come out here and perform as well as they do, you are happy for them, because it takes a lot.”
The Fairfield senior spoke about her race and how it all went for her.
“The first mile I felt really good, but I could tell I was starting to pay for it toward the one-and-a-half to two-mile mark. I told myself, ‘You just need to go, and no matter what happens you need to try and PR, even if you think you aren’t close to getting All-Ohio, you need to at least and try to PR, do the best that you can, and run as fast as you can,’” Colwell said.
This season, Colwell won the Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship with a time of 19:40 in the conference race held at Ripley. Then came a Division III SE District championship where the senior— in a race held at Rio Grande — finished with a time of 20:00.83. In the regional race held at Pickerington North High School, Colwell placed in the Top 10 in ninth place overall with a time of 19:42.2.
“It is amazing, and I feel so blessed. In this sport, absolutely anything can happen in an instant, and I feel really fortunate to get here three straight years,” Colwell said. “I can tell all my hard work the past four years has paid off.”
McCoy told a story about how Colwell began her racing career back in eighth grade, which was the start to her becoming a three-time state qualifier.
“The very first day of practice her eighth grade year, I needed volunteers for the distance team. She decided to come over, and I was like, ‘Well, we’ll see what we can do.’ She didn’t look much like a distance runner,” McCoy said. “She started practicing, and I can remember the first race over at East Clinton, and she went out that first lap, and I was like, ‘Oh no, this girl has no idea what she was doing,’ and she was already 100 yards ahead of everybody.
“Lap two comes, and I was like, ‘She’s going to fall over, she’s done,’ and then she finished the race. Right there, I knew we had a girl who mentally was strong enough to be a distance runner and had the guts to do it.”
McCoy also stated the mentality of Colwell her senior year was the best she’s ever seen from her.
“Over these last five years, we’ve worked with her on her mentality, and this is the strongest I’ve ever seen her be. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the future has for her, because anything she does, she can put her mind to it,”McCoy said. “Maturity has a lot to do with it. Ciara had the mentality this year, focusing on what she needed to get done and continuing to set higher goals for herself. She kept pushing until she met those goals, and I know she wanted to end on a PR, and that is exactly what she did today, and congratulations to her.”
Colwell wanted to thank McCoy for being her coach for the past five seasons, as they began this state journey back in eighth grade.
“I want to thank my coach because she really pushed me the past four years and in eighth grade,” Colwell said. “I didn’t even want to run, and there were times when I didn’t know I wanted to do this, but she just reminded me how disappointed I would be if I didn’t. I owe all my confidence to her, and I want to thank her for being the best coach I’ve ever had.”
The Saturday morning race in temperatures of around 40 degrees saw Colwell finish with a time of 19:32.0, setting a new PR as she finished 31st in a field of 180 competitors. In the race, she averaged a 6:16.8 mile, as her times included 5:54.3 at mile one, 12:20.2 at mile two and at the 4200-meter mark a time of 16:25.1.
“This is the best season I’ve ever had, to be honest. I’m really happy I was able to PR in my last race, and I’m going to miss this a lot,” Colwell said following the race. “I’m not going to lie, I was a little disappointed not getting All-Ohio honors, but I raced with my heart, and I did everything that I could, and sometimes that’s all you can ask for. It’s enough sometimes and sometimes it’s not, but you just have to pick yourself back up and learn from it.”
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Compared to last year, as a junior, Colwell had a time of 20:27.1 for a 34th-place finish. As a sophomore, she was 29th place at 19:45.2.
FHS head coach Kesia McCoy shared her thoughts on the race run by Colwell at the National Trail Raceway on Saturday.
“She had a phenomenal race, and this morning we talked about not setting limits for herself and go out there, and she knew this was the last one, and she went out with a bang,” McCoy said. “We saw that the whole race, she was out there fighting and wanted to make the Top 30 spot. We can’t be disappointed with a 19:40 finish, which is about a minute faster than she was last year. To see that she came back, she was definitely ready to run today.
“You know how much these kids sacrifice. What they eat, how much they sleep, how much they drink, their studies in school. High school is a hard thing, and knowing what they sacrifice to come out here and perform as well as they do, you are happy for them, because it takes a lot.”
The Fairfield senior spoke about her race and how it all went for her.
“The first mile I felt really good, but I could tell I was starting to pay for it toward the one-and-a-half to two-mile mark. I told myself, ‘You just need to go, and no matter what happens you need to try and PR, even if you think you aren’t close to getting All-Ohio, you need to at least and try to PR, do the best that you can, and run as fast as you can,’” Colwell said.
This season, Colwell won the Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship with a time of 19:40 in the conference race held at Ripley. Then came a Division III SE District championship where the senior— in a race held at Rio Grande — finished with a time of 20:00.83. In the regional race held at Pickerington North High School, Colwell placed in the Top 10 in ninth place overall with a time of 19:42.2.
“It is amazing, and I feel so blessed. In this sport, absolutely anything can happen in an instant, and I feel really fortunate to get here three straight years,” Colwell said. “I can tell all my hard work the past four years has paid off.”
McCoy told a story about how Colwell began her racing career back in eighth grade, which was the start to her becoming a three-time state qualifier.
“The very first day of practice her eighth grade year, I needed volunteers for the distance team. She decided to come over, and I was like, ‘Well, we’ll see what we can do.’ She didn’t look much like a distance runner,” McCoy said. “She started practicing, and I can remember the first race over at East Clinton, and she went out that first lap, and I was like, ‘Oh no, this girl has no idea what she was doing,’ and she was already 100 yards ahead of everybody.
“Lap two comes, and I was like, ‘She’s going to fall over, she’s done,’ and then she finished the race. Right there, I knew we had a girl who mentally was strong enough to be a distance runner and had the guts to do it.”
McCoy also stated the mentality of Colwell her senior year was the best she’s ever seen from her.
“Over these last five years, we’ve worked with her on her mentality, and this is the strongest I’ve ever seen her be. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the future has for her, because anything she does, she can put her mind to it,”McCoy said. “Maturity has a lot to do with it. Ciara had the mentality this year, focusing on what she needed to get done and continuing to set higher goals for herself. She kept pushing until she met those goals, and I know she wanted to end on a PR, and that is exactly what she did today, and congratulations to her.”
Colwell wanted to thank McCoy for being her coach for the past five seasons, as they began this state journey back in eighth grade.
“I want to thank my coach because she really pushed me the past four years and in eighth grade,” Colwell said. “I didn’t even want to run, and there were times when I didn’t know I wanted to do this, but she just reminded me how disappointed I would be if I didn’t. I owe all my confidence to her, and I want to thank her for being the best coach I’ve ever had.”