O-M’s Bracy steady in seventh place finish on home course

As Orient-Macksburg coach Dave Hartman puts it, it’s “Bridget versus the world” in cross country meets, as junior Bridget Bracy is the only female runner for her school competing at the high school level this year.

Bracy has competed well representing the Bulldogs. In Monday night’s Orient-Macksburg Invitational at Lake Orient, Bracy ran to a seventh place finish, clocking in at 23:52.94.

“My time was in a pretty good range,” Bracy said. “This is a pretty flat course, but over on the back side there are some hills that a friend of mine and I call cliffs. I got out pretty fast today, but that was what we were working toward. I dug real deep on the hills and coasted down the downhills.”

While all courses are not created equal, Bracy has liked the progression of her season to this point. She has a group she trains with in practice who have helped her get to the point she’s at.

“My first time this year was like 24:30, but [my growth] has been pretty good,” Bracy said. “I definitely have put the hard work in during practice and push myself every meet.”

Bracy was only eight spots out of making it to state cross country a year ago. She would enjoy getting to Fort Dodge this year to represent her school. Izzy Pierce is the only boy who competes for O-M this year, however he did not run Monday.

“I’m definitely going to push toward state,” Bracy said. “I’m going to work hard toward that.”

Hartman was very proud of Bracy’s effort on the Bulldogs’ home course.

“Bridget is extremely consistent. We’ve gotten her down into the 23s and she’s been there for three meets in a row. She works really hard, has a great attitude and we’re really proud of her,” Hartman said.

Running a cross country meet at a small school can be a challenge, however Hartman wanted to thank former activities director Kim DeJongh, Laura Stearns, and the entire school staff for their work in making it a success.

Earlham had all five of its girls in the top 7 to win the meet with 19 points. West Central Valley’s Taitlin Koch was fourth (22:14.84), Chasey Rowan was fifth (22:25.09) and Zalina Morse 10th (24:37.17) help to pace the Wildcats to a second place finish.

Earlham also had its top four boys in the top 8 for a win on that side of the meet. WCV was third, with Cael Hazen fifth (20:07.14) and Jared Rodrigues 11th (20:43.14), picking up medals.