Beagle Finishes H.S. Career At State Cross Country Tournament

Zechariah Beagle capped off his high school cross country career on the state stage. He represented Sullivan at the Class 4 Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 9.

The senior ranked 80th in his race through the muddy terrain. Beagle crossed the finish line at 18:05.30 against 156 other runners. He qualified to compete at the Gans Creek Course in Columbia after taking 20th at districts.

Beagle thanked his coaches, Terry Wood and Amy O’Dell, saying they had helped him more than he could imagine. Beagle stated that his technique at state “was [to] run as fast and as hard as I possibly could” to overcome the mucky conditions.

Wood was proud to see his senior show grit through the homestretch. Before taking off, the head coach told Beagle “that he was tougher than the conditions were.” Wood explained afterward, “He realized throughout the race and while he was running that he was a lot stronger than some people in front of him. He started out the race in the top 90-95 athletes and from there he was able to climb forward after the third kilometer. But his toughness really showed up in the last kilometer as he was speeding past people into the finish line.”

A week earlier, Beagle and his teammates had landed strong finishes at the Class 4 District 2 Tournament. Wood was happy to see all of his runners finish the season on a high note. He stated, “The one thing I left the athletes with on their final race was reminding them how awesome they were and that it was the time for awesomeness. That worked out great for a lot of our kids.”