On the final 400 meters of the Franklin Community cross country course, Center Grove was losing. Again.
The past three years had spelled the same story that looked to repeat: another loss at the Johnson County Championship. There were now 300 meters left.
It seemed inevitable that the same fate was to continue, with their best runner trailing in tenth place, knocking the Trojans into second place in the meet. There were now 200 meters left.
Suddenly, there’s movement. A trailblazer, blazing a trail through the three runners in front of her. Senior Hallie Mimbela can feel the finish drawing closer, but her focus is on the one girl in front of her. 100 meters left.
Mimbela streaks towards the finish, that one girl turns to zero. As Mimbela crosses the finish line, there are zero meters left. And as the rest of the racers finish the 5K, the number of years since the Lady Trojans have won the county championship dwindles from three to zero.
After securing sixth place individually in the County championship, which included three previous state qualifiers and eventual state champion Libby Dowty from Indian Creek, Mimbela’s ability to finish a race strong earned the girls cross country team their first county win in four years and a cause to celebrate.
“We’ve been doing really well, and it’s just a great feeling when everyone’s racing and everyone’s excited,” Mimbela said. “Knowing that everyone’s working hard and that we’re all supportive, especially [with] winning County, where everyone was happy and excited, is a great feeling to be around.”
Things were not always as high-flying as the county championship for Mimbela, as she had to overcome obstacles earlier in the season to get where she is now.
“For the first couple races of the season, I wasn’t where I wanted to be,” Mimbela said. “I thought I would be dropping a lot more time, but I was able to realize that in cross country, you don’t run well every time. It’s almost impossible to PR every time, and it’s a really good feeling to know that it’s okay to not do well every time and your teammates are always there for you.”
After struggling earlier in the season, Mimbela ran a personal best of 19:37 at the Brown County Eagle Classic, a turnaround Coach Wesley Dodson observed before the race was even finished.
“During that race, I was like ‘Man, Hallie, you’re having a great race,’ and she smiled. During the race. Which is pretty odd, but pretty funny. She knew that she was running well, and she was running with confidence. She went out strong. She was running a great race,” Dodson said.
Aiding Mimbela’s progress this season has been a new set of personalized workouts tailored to her mileage and pace, which has allowed her to improve her times from last year considerably.
“I feel a lot more prepared and a lot more capable of hitting the times I know I can hit,” Mimbela said. “I can pace better. I know how to go out at a good pace, work myself through the race, and I’m more relaxed knowing that I have all the miles that I’ve done in the past couple of months to get me through the race.”
Although these workouts, which she started after her junior cross country season, have helped with her confidence, Mimbela also has to deal with the negatives of these workouts as well.
“It’s kind of hard to run by myself and train with no one else,” Mimbela said. “Obviously, running with people can make you faster. There’s not much of a difference because I know how to push myself through the workout even when no one is there. If I’m either running by myself or with the girls, it’s still great effort on both sides.”
Despite the negatives, Mimbela’s performances have continued to improve, with a personal course-best time of 19:52.9 at the Terre Haute State Course during team’s first ever race at Nike Twilight, which featured 500 runners from at least six states, some as far away as Texas and Utah.
“It is a really good thing to be able to run with people who are way faster than you,” Mimbela said. “A big chunk of those girls, I’m never going to race against again because they’re from other states, but it also shows that you were able to race really well in a big race, so then racing at sectional and regional will be a little easier for everyone because it won’t be as crowded.”
Being a fast runner on a cross country team is one thing; being a leader on a team is another, and with the Sectional Championship approaching on Oct. 19, Mimbela’s qualities as a leader have been on full display.
“I think her best quality as a leader is the effort she puts in every day,” Dodson said. “She is more of a lead by example [runner]. She won our hardest worker for the last two years, sophomore and junior year. All the other girls see how hard she works and how much this means to her, and so I think that’s her greatest attribute as a leader.”
Even with the personal records and pressure of being the number one runner for the team, Mimbela’s mental attributes have stood out as a key to her racing performance.
“I think my favorite thing is that I know if it comes down to the end, she’s going to win,” Dodson said. “She has an amazing kick, she’s a great finisher, and she is really, really mentally tough when it comes down to finishing a race or just knowing that she can do a great job. She works her butt off.”
So, as the meters tick down, maybe her competitors play with fate as they let Mimbela hang around in the race. That’s what they did at Franklin that Saturday in September. But if they do, they should also be ready to pay the price.
The race isn’t over until there’s zero meters left.
