Wadsworth senior cross county runner Jon Bach is heading back to Columbus for another State Championship meet.
Jon qualified for the meet by virtue of his 8th place finish in the Division One Tiffin Regional last weekend. Even though Wadsworth just missed qualifying for the state meet in the team competition, Jon finished 8th in the individual competition, qualifying him for the State Championship meet.
Wadsworth boys cross country coach John Burton has coached Jon for the past four years. Burton said, “Jon has been my best runner over the last two years. He’s been our No. 1. He’s done well. He’s worked hard. Our goal last year was to break 16 minutes, that’s kind of a feather in your cap. This year, Jon ran a 15:50:59 at the Medina Invitational and just missed last weekend at Tiffin when he ran a 16:01”.
Cross Country is not only a physical sport, but it’s also a mental sport. Burton said “running in terms of cross country is 90% mental. The physical attributes amount to 10%. It’s a tough sport. You have to be mentally tough enough to maintain the pace. Jon is mentally tough enough to do that. He’s grown into that during the four years he’s been in the program”.
At the state meet with 16 teams competing and around 140 or so runners, what is a realistic goal to Jon Bach to reach?
“There’s a runner in the meet who has run 14:40 already this year” said Jon. “A realistic goal for me would be the Top 25, that would make me an All-Ohio runner”.
Jon says he will be in Columbus on Friday to jog around the course in order to get a feel for it. Race time is 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon.
“At least I’ll be able to sleep in” said Jon.
We wish all the best to Jon Bach who’s competing this weekend in the OHSAA Boys State Cross Country Championship.
