DANVILLE – Morgen Blum watched as a sea of color crossed the finish line at Northmor High School.
She had a special interest in one color combination in particular: Blue and white. Especially those that had the unfamiliar word “Danville” written on them.
When Sierra Shields and Gracie Lucas reached the finish, they became the first Danville athletes to officially complete a high school cross country race.
“These kids did well,” coach Blum said of Monday’s meet. “It’s hard for them to do something when you have no idea what it looks like.”
Danville became the final school in the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference to form a cross country team for both the high school and middle school.
Officials at the school have discussed the idea for years, but it always came down to the same argument: There aren’t enough students interested, what with football and volleyball sharing the fall schedule.
Then, over this past spring, Blum discussed the idea with members of the track and field team.
“Honestly, the kids came up to me and said we really need cross country,” said Blum, who is an assistant on the track team under her husband, Matt Blum. “We have really struggled in our distance events.
“We have kids who go through about two months of training, as opposed to kids on other teams who train all year round.”
So, Blum assembled some open runs starting in June. Several track students participated, and they began to bring their friends. Soon, they had a crowd of runners.
By the time practice officially began at the start of August, the Blue Devils had assembled enough runners to have both a boys’ and a girls’ team at the high school level, and a girls’ team at the middle school level.
“None had ever considered distance running,” Blum said.
Blum started practices at the Kokosing Gap Trail through Danville.
“I wanted to give them hills and have them run around the football field,” Blum said. “The track is being resurfaced, so it isn’t available.
“I’ve had to drive around and come up with new paths for them to run. Some are larger than others.”
The training will come into play next Saturday, Sept. 2, when the Blue Devils will join other KMAC teams at the crowded Highland Invitational. It will be Danville’s first exposure to a Saturday meet.
They will compete later in the month at Newark and Heath, then travel to Fredericktown’s annual Denny Stevens Invitational cross country run at Kokosing Dam on Sept. 26.
The Danville middle school girls finished fourth out of seven teams Monday, led by Brooklyn Ashman who came in 14th.
“There is a lot of talent here, especially at the middle school girls level,” Blum said. “They can go a long way if they stick with it.”
The Blue Devil high school teams finished last out of 10 girls teams and 12 boys teams on Monday. The scores, however, don’t reflect the effort put in by a team that had never competed together before. A team that is hoping to start – and build on – a new legacy in Danville athletics.
“Our goal is to become another successful Danville athletics program,” Blum said. “We want to carry out the traditions of the success of the program. The goal is to build this up.”
