Clute dominates at Strongsville meet

It has been a great start to the season for Olmsted Falls junior Katie Clute and Westlake sophomore Sarah Peer and Sept. 25 at the Strongsville Cross Country meet at Strongsville High School was no different.

The two area superstars finished 1-2 in the girls’ varsity race and both broke 18 minutes, the first time in Peer’s career and the second time for Clute. Clute finished with a time of 17:48.63 and Peer finished with a time of 17:53.81.

“It was good,” Clute said about the race. “It was really nice weather and perfect running weather. It was a great course.”

Clute added “with Sarah being there, she made it a lot more fun with someone there pushing me.”

“It was good,” Peer agreed. “I didn’t know who was going to run in this race. I just walked in and wanted to see what it was going to be like.

“(the race) had many teams with really good runners, and I knew it would be a competitive race for me.” Peer added.

Peer has talked about the mental aspect of running all season and how a positive mindset can go a long way.

“I got on the bus, I focused myself, I listened to some music, and I told myself ‘I am going to stick with her (Katie Clute) and I am going to break 18’ and kept telling myself that while visualizing the race,” Peer said. “Just getting myself mentally and positively prepared.

“I was getting really tired but having Katie out in front really led me through the race and it was just a very helpful aspect,” Peer said.

The mental aspect of running is just as, if not more, important than the physical.

“It is almost 60 percent mental and 40 percent physical,” Peer said.

“When I was running the race, as I am getting tired if I start telling myself that I am tired or that I can’t do this, then I start to slow down and I start breaking down physically and I can’t meet the goals that I want to achieve.

“I changed that mental aspect for myself,” Peer added.

Clute has had serious success at Strongsville, winning this meet last season with a time of 18:01.96, defeating second place by over 50 seconds.

“I am not exactly sure,” Clute said about the reason for her success at Strongsville.

“It has a really good environment to it, and it always has great runners and fans.”

As the cross country and fall season moves into October, both girls know how important races like these are.

“These races are very important because as regionals, districts, the conference meet and state comes around, it gets us prepared to race against amazing runners and it helps us find runners to stay with and push ourselves with which leads to personal records and team success,” Peer said.

“Just working hard and training and getting better there and then trying to show my hard work when I race,” Clute said about preparation. “Working both on

the physical and mental side of that and trying to get ready for the end of the season.

“If we can keep up the hard work and focus and see how that is helping us, then it will motivate us to get better and wanting to get better,” Clute added.

Westlake finished in fifth place as a team and Rocky River finished in fourth

place. River was led by senior Samantha Coleman, who finished fifth with a time of 18:43.55.

On the boy’s side, Matt Henry from Avon Lake finished in 14th place overall with a time of 16:26.95. Luke Ondracek from Walsh Jesuit won the race with a blistering time of 15:22.50. Avon Lake finished 12th as a team overall.