Republic’s running sisters wrapped up their season at the state meet in Columbia Saturday. Miha Nambara finished 21st to bring home a medal and earn all-state recognition, becoming the first girl from Republic to earn that designation. She finished the race in 19:23.70. That was four seconds off her best time of the season, set at the COC championship in Nixa on October 20.
“It feels amazing,” Nambara said about earning the state medal. “I worked hard all season making each practice count. I knew I had to step it up and that there was a target on my back since I went to state last year. But I kept my eyes on the goal of coming home with a medal this year.”
Misora Nambara, a freshman, ran the course in Columbia in 20:22.60. That was off her best time of the year (20:04.83) at Ha Ha Tonka State Park on October 3. But it was still good enough to place her in the top half of the field, 76th out of 165 runners. She was 18th out of 38 freshmen entered.
Despite falling short of her 20-minute goal, she said it was “thrilling and exciting to be in an atmosphere like that. It was surreal to see that many runners at the start line.”
She said her experience at this year’s meet opens her eyes to her potential in future seasons.
“Something that I will take from this experience for future seasons is to believe that I can do things that seem unreachable. At the beginning of the season, I would’ve never guessed that I would be running at State,” she said. “Just experiencing this gave me a boost in confidence. It was an unbelievable experience.”
And Misora said running with her older sister made the race an even better experience.
“I enjoyed competing with my sister because she pushes me to be faster. And going to State with her was very fun, because just being able to experience it with her was amazing,” she said. “It was also very helpful, because she would know what to expect – and me not knowing what it’s like at State, she was kind of a guide to me.”
Miha said having her sister along was “super fun. I’m glad I had someone to experience it with. It made it seem more comfortable, knowing that you have a teammate running, too. And there’s good chances of having more teammates join us next year, so I’m excited for next season.”