Molnar puts ACL issues in rear view mirror, along with competition
What knee issues?
If Emily Molnar still is having knee problems from her injury last season, none of the other runners at the cross country tri-meet between West Holmes, Tuslaw and Dalton on Wednesday evening at West Holmes could see it.
Of course, none of the other runners in the field could see Molnar period, as she raced away from the field to capture the top spot at the meet.
While Molnar won the race, Tuslaw won the meet, totaling 24 points to West Holmes’ 37, and Dalton’s 70, but on this night, it was Molnar who completely stole the show.
Molnar is working her way back from a torn ACL, which she suffered during the Lady Knights final basketball game last winter. After leading the cross country team at every single meet last season and becoming only the second girl in West Holmes High School history to eclipse the 20-minute mark (19:47), Molnar’s injury has forced West Holmes coach Kevin Beachy to ease his star runner back into the pounding pace of cross country running.
The entire first half of the season has seen Beachy only allowing Molnar to run on flat courses, and she has performed capably.
However, Beachy turned loose his top runner at the hilly, and challenging West Holmes course, and for the first time, Molnar tested her knee on something other than perfectly flat terrain.
The results were stunning, to both Molnar and Beachy, and to the rest of the field which was nowhere to be found at the end of the race when Molnar crossed the finish line in 20 minutes flat.
“I was shocked,” said Molnar following her epic effort. “The first mile I was right where I needed to be at 6:11. Usually I struggle with the second mile, but when I crossed and heard 13:11, I knew that 20:00 was possible. Still, I was shocked, because I kept thinking maybe a 20:50 or so.”
While Molnar has run better times, such as a 19:46 at River View this season, it is on a much easier track than what West Holmes represents. The hilly, torturous run is considered one of the tougher terrains in the state, which is why Molnar carving nearly two minutes off her best-ever time on the course was so stunning.
“That was pretty fun to watch,” said Beachy. “The first time back on a hilly course following ACL issues: Amazing. We have been pretty careful to watch where we’ve let her run, and we finally felt comfortable about letting her go here. And to run that kind of a time when nobody is around to push her is even more amazing.”
Molnar said her goal this season has been to continue to work on getting mentally tougher, regardless of where she is running. She said that she knows she can get better, as do her teammates, as they seek to return to the Regional meet again this year, and maybe greater things beyond that.
“We’ve just got to keep working,” said Molnar. “I have to keep working to lower my time. I know I can improve, and get down to the 19:30 area.”
As a team, Beachy said that the Lady Knights were right on par with their average times. He noted that Tuslaw always presents an intriguing challenge no matter when or where they compete.
“Tuslaw is a great team, and they ran well tonight,” said Beachy. “I thought both of the Alexis’ ran well (Eliot and Kandel). Overall it was a pretty solid effort tonight.”
Eliot came home fourth in a time of 21:47, Kandel finished ninth at 23:12, Nicole Peterman was right on her tail finishing 10th with a time of 23:26, while Miranda Hostettler (13th, 24:24), Makayla Patterson (18th, 26:06) and Felicia Schlabach (19th, 26:24) rounded out the scoring field for the Knights.
It was a solid effort by the Lady Knights, which was overpowered by the stunning performance by Molnar, as she proved that her ACL issues may very well be a thing of the past.
Published: September 28, 2011
