Woodhouse gears for state cross country meet

It’s been a historic season for the Logansport girls cross country team and junior Alette Woodhouse has been leading the way.

Woodhouse placed 29th and broke her own school record with a time of 19:08 to advance out of the Brownsburg Regional last Saturday.

“I’m beyond thrilled with the results of regionals,” Woodhouse said. “Having both Logan teams down in Brownsburg was so fun. We had quite the week celebrating sectionals and today’s race was a nice way to tie it all together.”

Woodhouse advanced out of a loaded Brownsburg Regional with teams from Indianapolis, Hamilton County, Terre Haute, Kokomo and Lafayette.

The state cut time was 19:14, so Woodhouse had to break her own school record to advance.

“Cross Country can be so intense it’s frightening,” she said. “With hundreds of girls chasing the exact same goal, milliseconds matter. Inches decide when your season ends. You’re going to be scared. You’ll give everything and it still might not be enough. I didn’t think it was enough after finishing the race. It wasn’t until awards, and then later on the bus when I counted results myself, that I accepted I was going to state.”

The Berries won their first conference and sectional championships in girls cross country this year. Woodhouse placed third overall at the Hoosier Conference Meet and won her first individual sectional title as well.

“All the pressure I’ve felt running hasn’t been without its privileges,” she said. “I love a good race with some healthy competition, and it’s exciting to make history for my school. Having the opportunity I’ve been given isn’t common, so I’ve handled all challenges with gratefulness, looking to inspire others while being the best I can be.”

Woodhouse also competed in the mile at the state track meet last spring.

This will be her first appearance at the state cross country meet, which gets underway at noon Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute.

She’s the lone remaining runner from the Logansport Sectional field for both the girls and boys.

“I congratulate all of the runners from the Logansport Sectional for their outstanding seasons, and I hope to represent all of you well at the State Finals,” she said.

Logansport ended the longest drought in the field, qualifying a runner for the first time in 43 years. She’s the first girl to advance since Kim Briggs did so in 1982 and 1983. The last boy to advance was Kyle Overway in 2011.

Briggs finished seventh at state her senior season with a time of 10:28 when it was a 3K race. It’s currently a 5K race. Briggs used to run with the boys during the season until the state tournament when she’d run with the girls.

Briggs placed 17th at state as a junior in 1982. She went on to run at Illinois State.