An accomplished equestrian, Emily Kocher is no stranger to high-stakes competition. Put her on horseback, point her at a ring full of spectators – no worries.
But on the eve of Friday’s state 1A/2A indoor track state championship meet in Winston-Salem, Kocher admitted to more than a few butterflies. Maybe even some horse-sized ones.
“I’m obviously excited, but a little nervous,” Kocher said. “The stakes are pretty big. This is a big meet. There’s a lot riding on this.”
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Teammate Caleb Brown admitted he shared those emotions, and no wonder why. Brown and Kocher are part of Polk County’s boys and girls 4×800-meter relay teams who each enter Friday’s meet as the top-ranked teams at the distance. If either team wins a state title Friday, it will mark the first time a Wolverine relay team has won an indoor crown.
No pressure, right?.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Brown said. “We always know that there’s someone out there gunning for us. They want to take us down.”
Brown, a senior in his first season of indoor track, has joined a group that includes Sean Doyle, Jacob Wolfe, Mitchell Brown and Eli Hall to form a 4×800 squad that owns the best time in the state, among 1A/2A schools, by some 22 seconds. Whichever foursome has run has constantly lowered the team’s time and school record. Brown will also compete in the 500-meter run and as part of the Wolverines’ 4×400-meter relay team, ranked second entering the meet.
“We’ve all bonded together, which is pretty cool,” Brown said of his relay teammates. “We all get along well.”
Like Brown, Kocher is a senior in her first season of indoor competition. She will also take part in three events Friday, the others being the 1000-meter run and 4×400-meter relay.
But unlike Brown and the boys 4×800 team, Kocher and her relay mates – Allison Swope, Savannah Robbins, Emma Wagoner and Addie Lynch – own the top seed by about a second over a Community School of Davidson team that is expected to offer stiff competition.
“It definitely puts more pressure on us,” Kocher said of being the top seed in the event. “It’s great being seeded first, but it’s only be less than a second. We’re going to really have to work for it. It’s going to be a tough race.”
Without a doubt each event for Polk County’s 17 state qualifiers will be tough. But, nerves and all, the Wolverines were already counting down the hours on Thursday night.
“I’m excited about being able to run in a state meet,” Brown said. “We’ll just see how that goes.”
