McDonald runs at state
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
COLUMBUS — McClain junior Jon McDonald finished 35th Saturday morning at the 2010 Division II State Cross Country Championship at Scioto Downs.
McDonald finished with a time of 16:41.1.
The junior ran in the top one-third throughout the race against the best in the state of Division II, with splits of 4:38 after 1600m and 10:32 after 3200m.
"I thought he ran a great race. He went out and was strong. Jon was in the top third like we wanted him to be, and going back out of the stadium he was in good shape and gave it everything he had," McClain cross country coach Kevin Honnold said. "He ran real well, and I'm very proud of him."
The race started in front of a jam-packed grandstand at Scioto Downs (in Columbus) with all runners circling the infield, until they had to follow the designated course up the actual race track, outside the stadium, back into the stadium, down the track, back around the infield, and outside the stadium for a second time, and around the infield one final time until they crossed the finish line.
"It was kind of overwhelming at first," McDonald said. "There were so many fans, and I've never seen this many people to cheer for me, and it's a good feeling."
McDonald talked about the actual race.
"The race was really tough," he said. "I started feeling really bad about the second mile, then I just had to finish it out from there. It's pretty rough. It was tough because there was a lot of good competition here. I just ran my own race and tried to stay with them. I think I did pretty good."
He compares the course to the Tigers' home course in Greenfield.
"There are some courses that are pretty similar to it," he said. "This one is relatively flat, it's fast, probably one of the fastest courses. It kind of reminds me of our course (McClain)."
This season, McDonald had 10 first-place finishes, a second place at districts and a 10th place in regionals to be able to compete at state.
"It's better than I expected," McDonald said when asked about his entire season. "The times were better and I didn't expect to get this low of time this year. I was hoping to make it to state, I gave it my all, and it's pretty much a good success."
McDonald has a goal of returning to state next year.
"I'd love to be back here next year, see what I can do," he said. "Hopefully we can make it as a team."
Winning the Division II race was Michael Brajdic, a senior from Bay Village, with a time of 15:01.9, crossing the finish line 20 seconds before second place Steven Weaver, a junior from Napoleon.
Washington's Rob King was 49th at 16.52 with a 1600m split of 4:44 and 3200m of 10:41.[[In-content Ad]]
McDonald finished with a time of 16:41.1.
The junior ran in the top one-third throughout the race against the best in the state of Division II, with splits of 4:38 after 1600m and 10:32 after 3200m.
"I thought he ran a great race. He went out and was strong. Jon was in the top third like we wanted him to be, and going back out of the stadium he was in good shape and gave it everything he had," McClain cross country coach Kevin Honnold said. "He ran real well, and I'm very proud of him."
The race started in front of a jam-packed grandstand at Scioto Downs (in Columbus) with all runners circling the infield, until they had to follow the designated course up the actual race track, outside the stadium, back into the stadium, down the track, back around the infield, and outside the stadium for a second time, and around the infield one final time until they crossed the finish line.
"It was kind of overwhelming at first," McDonald said. "There were so many fans, and I've never seen this many people to cheer for me, and it's a good feeling."
McDonald talked about the actual race.
"The race was really tough," he said. "I started feeling really bad about the second mile, then I just had to finish it out from there. It's pretty rough. It was tough because there was a lot of good competition here. I just ran my own race and tried to stay with them. I think I did pretty good."
He compares the course to the Tigers' home course in Greenfield.
"There are some courses that are pretty similar to it," he said. "This one is relatively flat, it's fast, probably one of the fastest courses. It kind of reminds me of our course (McClain)."
This season, McDonald had 10 first-place finishes, a second place at districts and a 10th place in regionals to be able to compete at state.
"It's better than I expected," McDonald said when asked about his entire season. "The times were better and I didn't expect to get this low of time this year. I was hoping to make it to state, I gave it my all, and it's pretty much a good success."
McDonald has a goal of returning to state next year.
"I'd love to be back here next year, see what I can do," he said. "Hopefully we can make it as a team."
Winning the Division II race was Michael Brajdic, a senior from Bay Village, with a time of 15:01.9, crossing the finish line 20 seconds before second place Steven Weaver, a junior from Napoleon.
Washington's Rob King was 49th at 16.52 with a 1600m split of 4:44 and 3200m of 10:41.[[In-content Ad]]