Fourth-place finish gets Wilson return nationals trip

Monday, November 12, 2018
Emma Wilson
Contributed photo

TERRE HAUTE — Facing hundreds of the top runners from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, Greencastle’s Emma Wilson placed fourth on Sunday at the Nike Cross Regionals at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course.

Wilson, who had won her second straight high school state championship on that course two weeks earlier in a time of 17:53.9, placed fourth in 17:41.8 on a cold afternoon.

She now qualifies to run in the Nike Cross Nationals at Portland, Ore., on Dec. 1 for the second straight year.

The winning time on Sunday was 17:14.9 by junior Katelynne Hart of West Glenbard, Ill.

Placing second in 17:17.4 was senior Alex Morris of North Naperville, Ill., while junior Taylor Ewert of Creek Elite in Ohio was third in 17:33.7.

Wilson was representing the “Miles to Go” running club of Greencastle.

Miles to Go director Craig Jordan was happy Wilson was able to reach her goal.

“Emma’s goal for the regional qualifier was to finish in the top five to secure a spot at Nike Nationals and she successfully managed to do so,” Jordan said. “The pace was fast from the start and Emma hung back in seventh or eighth place until about the halfway mark when she started moving up.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy to qualify, as the Midwest Region is more competitive than last year due to four of the top five girls returning and others getting quicker which makes her qualifying again even more special,” Jordan added. “All said, Emma still has her eyes set on performing her best at nationals, so her training volume was a lot higher this week than it was last year and we’re now 3-4 weeks away from her goal races which is very exciting.”

Wilson was excited to be able to earn a return trip to the Nike Cross Nationals.

“I just came out trying to do my best to qualify, and I’m really excited,” she said. “I just ran my own race and tried to keep up. ”I would really like to finish in the top 10 this year [she finished 14th last year].

Wilson’s next competition will be on Nov. 24 at the Footlocker Midwest Regional in Kenosha, Wis., where she’ll face girls from 13 different states as she seeks a top-10 finish in order to qualify for Footlocker Nationals, which will be Dec. 8 in San Diego.

Wilson will sign with the University of Illinois sometime this month.