Photo by Jordan Holland Fort Frye’s girls cross country team, made up entirely of freshmen, will compete in the state meet this Saturday at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park. Pictured above, from left to right, are team members Natalie Rauch, Laine Spindler, Kyndal Buchanon, Emma Richards, Cadence Waller, Maggie Fulton and Ava Huck.

Even more remarkable perhaps is the fact that all seven of the Cadets on the team are freshmen. That’s right — a group of seven ninth-grade girls have helped propel Fort Frye cross country to new heights.

“They’ve always been surrounded by success,” said Fort Frye head coach Jason Lipot. “They’ve always had it at an early age. I think that gave them some confidence this year.

“We had success very early in the season. The Broughton race, we finished second to Williamstown. That kind of set the tone and showed us, ‘Hey, we’re pretty good.'”

Fort Frye is set to run in the Division III state meet at 9 a.m. Saturday at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park.

Photo by Jay W. Bennett Fort Frye's Phinn Spindler runs in the Belpre Invitational earlier this season.

The team is made up of Cadence Waller, Emma Richards, Ava Huck, Laine Spindler, Maggie Fulton, Kyndal Buchanon and Natalie Rauch.

The community will send the Cadets off with a pep rally Friday afternoon. Fort Frye will use Friday to get familiar with the course. Then, their goal is a top 10 finish in the team standings, but really they’re just hoping to take in the experience.

“We’re not pushing on them that hard this week,” Lipot said. “We’re just letting them enjoy what they’ve actually done. We don’t want them to get too wrapped up in the pressure of it.

“Hopefully it’s an addictive moment for them and they’ll want to be able to do it again and again and again.”

On the way to getting to state, Fort Frye won championships in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference, the East District and the Pickerington Regional. At the regional meet, the championship came down to the wire.

The Cadets were tied with Grandview Heights for first place in the team standings, so it came down to each team’s sixth runner — Fort Frye had Buchanon, Grandview Heights had nobody.

“It was a tiebreaker and the other team didn’t have a sixth (runner) so she was the reason we won,” Richards said of Buchanon.

Buchanon pointed out that Spindler passed a girl down the final stretch of the race to force the tie in the first place.

“It’s a whole team effort,” Buchanon said. “We all work together to accomplish our goals.”

“Everyone supports everyone,” Huck added.

Richards and Huck finished back-to-back in 17th and 18th place, respectively, with just half a second separating them. Waller wasn’t far behind in 26th. Spindler came in 42nd, Fulton was 115th, Buchanon was 124th and Rauch was 125th.

“It’s a group effort, but it also plays into coach (Lipot). We wouldn’t be here without him. We complain a lot, but we do enjoy being here,” Richards laughed.

For a team comprised of all freshmen with no upperclassmen to guide them, Fort Frye assistant coach Scott Burnham lauded the Cadets’ coachability.

“They’re just really mature,” Burnham said. “They’re freshmen, but coach Lipot and I rarely ever have to bother them. We just say, ‘Alright, this is your workout today.’ They go to the far side of the track and they do it. We see them an hour later and they’re done. The responsibility and the accountability they have in themselves really sets them apart.”

Now, it’s on to state, where the competition will be fierce. Waller is hoping the Cadets take it all in and are able to build off the exposure.

“We want to get top 10,” she said. “But, we really want to take in the experience.”

FORT’S LONE WOLF

Joining the seven-deep Fort Frye girls team at state will be fellow Cadet Phinn Spindler.

Phinn will be the only boy on the team running in the race. He placed 20th at the regional meet to earn the last qualifying spot for state.

“I thought I was good for sure. The results said 19th at first, and then I moved down to 20th because there was like a glitch,” he recalled. “That really scared me, but I’m glad it all panned out.”

Phinn, just a sophomore, is going to state for the first time after missing out his freshman year.

“That’s been my goal since freshman year,’ he said. “I failed freshman year by a lot, so it was like redemption to get there this year.”

After not getting to state last season, “I worked smarter, not any harder,” he said. “I took it easier on myself this year and really started putting in the work midseason to get to peak late in the season. That’s what did it for me.”

Phinn’s dad, Matt, ran track for Fort Frye when he was in high school. Now, Phinn and his younger sister Laine from the girls team will get the chance to compete together on the state’s biggest stage.

“My dad ran as well, and now we’re both running and seeing a lot of success,” said Phinn, who has taken delight in seeing the growth of cross country at Fort Frye.

“It’s really a blessing that Jeremy (Anderson) brought it back and did everything he did. That’s the reason why we’re here today. It has grown a lot, as a sport overall and at Fort Frye recently.”

As for the state meet…

“Top 30 is All-Ohio and I’m ranked like 45th, so it’s not out of the question,” Phinn said. “Really, I just want to have a good time and have a good experience, but (All-Ohio) is in the back of my mind.”

Phinn made it clear that in order to run a good race, he’s got to be able to control his nerves.

“Don’t get nervous,” he said. “That’s the key. I got nervous at regionals and I spent a lot of energy before the race freaking out about it. I think if I stay calm, that’s the key.”

Phinn gave a shoutout to his coaches as well as some other area runners for helping him get to this point.

“I’d like to thank the coaches, Lipot and Scott,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here without them. And, my friends over the summer that I trained with. Ezra (Minard) from Marietta, we did a lot of running together this summer. Me and (Warren’s) Bryson (Angelo) ran a little bit. Some of the relationships I’ve built through running are great.”