Freshman beats qualifying time, finishes 37th amongst 152 others
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
Big Foot boys and girls cross country coach Tim Collins had fairly reasonable expectation for freshman Zanzie Demco prior to last weekend’s WIAA Division 2 State Meet.
And by the end, Demco not only met the goal, she left it in the dust.
What began as a hope to finish in the top half quickly turned into far more than that, as Demco placed 37th overall in the field of 152 runners with a time of 20:09.6.
That finish also surpassed her sectional qualifying time of 20:26.
All in all, there couldn’t have been a better way for her to close out the 2014 campaign.
“We were hoping for top half, so to get 37th out of 152 far exceeded our expectations,” Collins said.
Demco was in 44th at the one-mile mark with a split of 6:10, and by the two-mile mark had dropped into 55th overall.
But from there, she quickly moved past several runners to finish 37th – an 18-spot improvement.
“Typically, Zanzie improves throughout the race, which is what she did again,” Collins said. “I didn’t think she could move up that move at the state level. Her finish was very strong, as she sprinted the final 150 meters.”
As impressive as her finish on the Ridges Golf Course, Wisconsin Rapids was, perhaps even more impressive was how Demco handled the atmosphere, Collins said.
She just went out and did her thing.
“She did amazing for a freshman,” Collins said. “The enormity of it did not faze her at all.”
Now that she has this experience behind her, Collins said hopes Demco can use her first high school season as a steppingstone to bigger things down the road.
She’s certainly off to a great start.
“Just getting to the ‘show’ is a huge accomplishment,” Collins said. “Hopefully, the taste made her hungry for more.
“She can be as good as she wants. With a full summer of training next year, I think she will be frequent flyer to the state meet.”
Madison Edgewood senior Amy Davis emerged as the individual state champion with a winning time of 17:46.23.
Notre Dame claimed the team title with 91 points, followed by McFarland with 99, Shorewood with 104, Two Rivers with 118 and Wisconsin Lutheran with 130.
