Jake Paron (left) and Kiviok Hight finished two seconds apart at the state cross country meet. Paron placed 95th while Hight placed 99th overall for the Cook County-Two Harbors cross country team. The finishes were personal bests for both North Shore runners.
November 1 marked the day of the Minnesota State High School race. It was a beautiful and cool day, perfect for racing on the St. Olaf Cross Country course in Northfield, Minnesota. Jake Paron and Kiviok Hight were two 9th graders representing the Cook County-Two Harbors Vikings cross country team.
Going into the race we knew that they would be around the middle of the herd. The goal today was to get practice at this level of competition, resist going out too fast, take it all in and walk away with a goal for next year. Our dynamic duo executed their races perfectly.
The race went out fast but Paron and Hight resisted temptation and they were in position to continue to race forward trying to pass as many as possible. They both looked comfortable as they raced and with 800 meters to go they began to kick up some speed.
The winner of the single “A” race was Shane Streich from Waseca with a 5k time of 15:46, quite impressive.
Paron and Hight both set new personal best times. Paron finished in 95th with a time of 17:27 and Hight finished in 99th with a time of 17:29. Notice that they are averaging less than 5 minutes 30 seconds minutes per mile. These two have really worked well together throughout the season and their ability to work together has helped them improve and move to a higher level.
This dynamic duo will be fun to watch in the coming years.
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