Last weekend, Nathan More, a PHS cross country runner, ran in the biggest race he’s ever been apart of, the Nike Midwest Meet.  The race included 355 male runners representing five states, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri.

Nathan participated in the championship race which was open to runners that had to qualify with a particular personal time in their cross country season.  Including female runners, over 550 kids participated in the championship races alone. That’s not even counting the other 6 races , including the boys ad girls fresh/soph race, the middle school race, the boys and girls opens, and the community open race; altogether, over 2700 athletes participated.  

Nike holds this meet every year in Terre Haute at the Lavern Gibson Course, which is also the location of the NCAA championship meet.  The Midwest Meet is one of eight that happen in the United States. Once those are over the athletes that advance go to the National Meet in Oregon where only the best of the best compete.  

Nathan didn’t have any expectations for this meet which made it one of the most enjoyable races for him.  Unlike school races which are pressure filled and stressful for runners, Nike goes out of its way to keep these races fun.  Along with every other athlete, Nathan got a free beanie from Nike. Each championship race began with fireworks. Many runners dressed up in costumes or jerseys custom designed for this race.

The winner of the boys Midwest Meet was Cole Hocker from Indiana.  In the girls race it was Katelynne Hart, who was also the winner of the Girls 3A race in Illinois.