Jim Crawford had an idea Meghan McGovern might be onto something special as she headed into the final 300 meters of Saturday’s state championship cross country race at Hershey
“It was only the girl from Strath Haven (Hannah Grossman) and Meghan together before they started up the last hill,” North Penn’s veteran cross country coach said. “I hollered to Meghan,’ It’s your race if you want it.’”
“She was two steps behind the girl, and it looked to me like going up the hill (Grossman) might have pulled a couple of steps ahead of her.”
But not for long. Any ground McGovern may have lost going up the hill, she made up for coming down the home stretch when she passed Grossman and crossed the finish line in first place, capturing the prestigious PIAA Class AAA crown.
“I don’t think it’s set in yet,” McGovern said of winning the state title. “I couldn’t believe it happened. It was just so overwhelming. It was the best feeling in the world. It’s definitely the best feeling.
“Going up the hill at the end, I was in second by a couple of steps behind her, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to catch her because she’s a really good runner. I just kept thinking to myself – I was so close, and it would be heartbreaking to be second. I wanted it so badly. I just tried to push it to the end.
“I felt really confident, and I thought I could do it, but for it to actually happen was a whole other thing.”
McGovern’s strategy in Saturday’s race was simple.
“Mostly, I just wanted to make sure I always was in a position where – if I felt good – I could try and go for the win,” she said. “I just tried to stay in the top pack.
“In the second mile, Hannah Grossman kind of broke away, and I went with her. It became a race between us two. I didn’t pass her until the very end, so it was super close and nerveracking. I think my goal was just to stay up there, stay in the top and just try and be there at the end to try and win it.”
According to Crawford, McGovern did everything right in Saturday’s race.
“When she turned to go down the homestretch, I couldn’t see it, but everybody said she just ran it perfectly,” the Maidens’ coach said. “She just kept moving up on (Grossman), and in the last 20 yards or so, she went ahead by three or four yards, so the girl didn’t have a chance to come back on her. Everyone was telling me – it was the perfect race.”
Anything less wouldn’t have been good enough. McGovern finished with a time of 18:28 while Grossman was right behind at 18:30. Her state championship run came on the heels of a second place finish at districts a week earlier at Lehigh.
“It’s very exciting,” McGovern said. “Coming out of districts, I felt really strong. I ran faster than I did the previous year, so I was really happy about that.
“I came in fifth last year (at states), so I just wanted to try and do better than that. I knew it would be hard because there are a lot of really good girls this year.”
The win capped a marvelous senior season for McGovern who captured the title in the Manhattan Cross Country Invitational for the third straight year. She also finished first at the Salesianum Invitational in Delaware earlier this season.
“I think just a major thing this season was having more confidence in myself and believing I could do it,” McGovern said. “That was a big difference based on past years and also having a little more experience just from running two years before and knowing what to do and how to run a little smarter.
“I tried to focus on some of the smaller things too – stretching a lot and the weight training and doing all the little things that hopefully would add up and make a difference.”
All told, it was quite a season for an athlete who gave up field hockey as a sophomore to go out for cross country simply to stay in shape for track.
“I did indoor track and outdoor track as a freshman,” McGovern said. “I think mostly I just loved the girls on the track team, and they all persuaded me to do it.
“I thought it would help me with track. It ended up that cross country is my favorite of all three seasons now, so it worked out really well.”
McGovern leaves North Penn as the new standard bearer in her sport. She is not only the first girls’ individual champion, she also has had three top 10 finishes in the state, finishing eighth as a sophomore and fifth as a junior before winning it all as a senior.
“I guess you could say she’s our best ever,” Crawford said. “We have never had a state champion before, we’ve never had a person finish three times in the top 10 before.
“The nice thing about it is she’s just such a nice person. When you get on the course, she’s a fierce competitor, but when you’re lining up ahead of time, she’ll be smiling and saying hello to everyone. She’s just a very nice person.”
When the race begins, McGovern is all business.
“She sets her mind to what she wants to do, and she really goes after it,” Crawford said. “She’s not afraid of the people who have beaten her before – she doesn’t say, ‘Well, I’ll finish fifth or sixth because these people can beat me.’ She goes out each time, and it’s a different race.
“Our league and our district are so tough. She’s running against the top kids every time out. She’s progressed steadily each year, which is good, and she worked her way up.”
Ask Crawford the key to McGovern’s success this season, and he has an immediate answer.
“Her determination,” he said. “It was anybody’s race on Saturday, but she wanted it apparently more than the other girl did.
“When she ran the Salesianum – that’s a tough course, but I think this championship course is extra tough, especially with a hill in the last 300 meters of the race. It’s enough to kill you just looking at it. After running almost three miles, you have the hill to go up at the end, but she was determined.”
It was a storybook ending for McGovern, who admits it’s an ending she couldn’t have imagined when she gave up field hockey to run cross country.
“It still seems unreal,” she said. “I love cross country. It’s the best feeling in the world when you finish a race and just knowing all your hard work has paid off. Of course, there are times when I’m like, ‘Why am I doing this? I should have stuck with field hockey,’ but it’s so rewarding when you finish a race.
“I’m so happy I was able to end my senior cross country season this way, and I hope I can carry it into indoor track and outdoor track and continue to have the best senior year possible.”
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