Darlington senior Hayes Parsa ended his high school cross country career on a high note by finishing 10th in the Classes 1A Division I-3A boys championship race at Carrollton midday Friday.
Parsa completed his podium-worthy 5K race in 17 minutes, 9.39 seconds, almost five seconds faster than the 11th-place finisher.
“It was a great race,” Parsa said. “It’s something I’ve been working on for a really long time. I’ve been running for this since June, and it was a great culmination of the season.”
The senior ultimately ran at the state meet four times, with Friday’s race marking his first time on the podium. He finished 30th as a junior, 13th as a sophomore and 32nd as a freshman.
“As soon as the gun went off, I immediately solidified myself in the top 10,” he said. “In the back of my mind, the whole time, I was thinking ‘I have to stay top 10.’ That was my goal all season.”
Parsa beat out the 11th-place finisher, Hebron Christian’s Javier Silva, by almost five seconds.
“The last mile, it’s really hilly. It was hurting a lot,” Parsa said. “I could just feel the 11th-, 12th-, 13th-place guys breathing down my neck, but I decided to just grit my teeth and give it all I had.”
Among those close behind the Tigers’ top finisher was junior teammate Lee Donahue. Donahue finished the race with a time of 17:27.54, good for 13th place.
“(Donahue) was good breathing (down my neck), the other guys were bad breathing,” Parsa said. “He was with me the majority of the time and that kept me going.”
Parsa’s and Donahue’s finishes helped lead the Tigers to a 10th-place finish as a team.
“As soon as I finished, I took a few seconds to take it all in,” Parsa said, “and then I immediately turned around and started cheering the other guys as they came in on that last 100 (meters). It was really nice because these guys have been working just as hard as I have this whole season.”
In the girls’ championship race in the same division, Darlington junior Cora Fannin finished 16th with a time of 21:12.22.
Her placement, along with the back-to-back 90th- and 91st-place placements of Annie Beauchamp and Annie Watterson, helped Darlington to finish 16th as a team.
Results of local runners at the Classes 1A Division I-3A Private championship cross country races:
Team
10. Darlington — 258
Individual
10. Hayes Parsa, Darlington — 17:09.3
13. Lee Donahue, Darlington — 17:27.54
45. Zach Kimani, Darlington — 18:42.16
90. Murray Ellington, Darlington — 19:36.83
103. Gray Smith, Darlington — 19:55.26
111. Logan Cochran, Darlington — 20:03.00
113. Bennett Brearley, Darlington — 20:06.83
Girls
Team
16. Darlington — 412
Individual
16. Cora Fannin, Darlington — 21:12.22
90. Annie Beauchamp, Darlington — 24:50.14
91. Annie Watterson, Darlington — 24:55.16
107. Cristina Martin, Darlington — 25:51.41
113. Clara Holter, Darlington — 26:52.50
118. Caroline Knight, Darlington — 27:15.09
129. Anna Claire Lance, Darlington — 28:19.35
