Battle Ground High School senior Sophia Rogers had been thinking about a district championship for nearly a year.
After finishing second last season, the senior reached her goal with a time of 18:17.8 at the girls 4A Greater St. Helens League cross-country championship on Wednesday, Oct. 21; earning a victory that has boosted her confidence heading into the postseason.
“I'm so happy. It's been my goal since last year. I got second last year and I've been thinking about it almost every single day since, so I was just super, super happy,” Rogers told reporters.
Rogers said her race strategy was to start conservatively before increasing her pace and maintaining it through the finish.
“The plan was to go on the first half mile pretty easy, pretty relaxed, and then the second half mile kick as hard as I can or like, you know, pick it up and then just try to keep that pace for the rest of the race,” she said.
Having previously raced on the course just a week prior also helped Rogers prepare for the championship, which was held in Camas instead of the usual Lewisville Regional Park for the district championship. She said running alone can be challenging, making the experience valuable practice for maintaining her pace as she was half a minute ahead of second place.
The victory comes after a difficult start to the season. Rogers missed the first couple of races because of nagging pain but said she was able to overcome it and return to her rhythm.
“I didn't even think I was going to win coming into the season,” she said. “So coming out here and winning is just super, super exciting.”
With bi-districts and state approaching, Rogers has set her sights on another strong postseason performance. She hopes to finish in the top five at regionals and earn a medal at the state cross country meet.
Rogers said the district title has also strengthened her confidence after some doubts heading into the race.
4A Greater St. Helens League bi-district qualifiers for both boys and girls will now travel north to the Tacoma-area for a Halloween race day in the Westside Classic at Chambers Creek Regional Park.
