Hirlinger Moves on to Regionals
By Jessica Wuebbolt
On Saturday, October 19, junior Gabby Hirlinger qualified for Regionals in cross country. To qualify for cross country Regionals, a team must either qualify by being one of the top four teams in Districts or have an individual runner be in the top 16 in Districts. . Hirlinger ran the best race of her life with a personal record of 19:46, 22 seconds faster than her 2012 districts race. Throughout the race she competed hard by steadily moving up and giving it her all. With only 100 meters to go, Hirlinger was only one second away from 16thand 17th place, but she held on strong and finished 15th place in districts. What made Hirlinger so motivated to quality for Regionals this year was that in 2012 she was only one spot away from making it to Regionals. Hirlinger says, “It’s a really amazing feeling to make it to Regionals this year, even though my team didn’t make it with me. I wouldn’t be where I am without them. During every run and workout this season, I had Regionals in the back of my mind for the past five months; hard work really does pay off.”
Gabby Hirlinger also has an awesome season ahead of her in track. Right now, her plans are to stay injury free and work towards breaking the four by eight school record. Besides being a three year varsity runner, Hirlinger also enjoys photography, traveling, fashion, and exploring new areas of Cincinnati. She hopes to attend the University of Cincinnati.
Gabby Hirlinger will compete at Regionals in Troy on Saturday, October 26.
