Republic senior Gracie Troester, who battled injuries throughout her final cross country season, finished 71st at the Class 5 state meet Saturday in Columbia. Her time of 19:51.1 marked the end of a decorated cross country career that included four straight state championship appearances.
(Check out our story on Republic’s other competitor, Catherine Wilson, here.)
Troester ran just four races this fall. Despite the limited schedule, she qualified for state by placing sixth at districts, maintaining her streak of state appearances that began her freshman year.
After the race, Troester’s thoughts focused less on her finish and more on the relationships she built over four years.
“Being on the team for four years has been really amazing. I’m really blessed…to compete with everyone,” she said, fighting back tears. “Even though I didn’t get to run as much as I hoped, I still had an amazing team behind me to back me up, and people that were still loving and caring towards me, even if I was just the cheerleader for basically the whole season.”
Troester covered the first 1,000 meters in 3:34.3, putting her in 16th place early. She crossed 2,000 meters in 7:26.2 before finishing the race with a 3:53.5 split over the final kilometer.
“I was supposed to be out, so just even being able to get in a couple races was good,” she said of her season.
Coach Lexie Gallion praised Troester’s perseverance through the challenges.
“She faced so much adversity this season, and regardless of the outcome for her, she should just be proud that she made it here,” Gallion said. “She did awesome things with what she was given this season.”
Troester is looking forward to a healthy track and field season in the spring.
