Girls Cross Country: Hilliard Darby's Sydney Kloth making most of only season
Sydney Kloth proves that it’s never too late to start something new. The Hilliard Darby senior was an avid softball player, but always had a joy for running.
She decided to give track a try last spring and loved it so much that she’s running cross country this fall. It’s been a decision that’s paid off, both on and off the course.
“I always enjoyed running, so I ran track last year and really liked it,” Kloth said. “Then, coach (Chase) Hampton (told me) cross country could help keep me in shape for track, so I decided why not (since) it’s my senior year.
“I played softball before and it wasn’t the best fit. I enjoyed running – I ran a half-marathon (in October 2021). Plus, I had a couple of friends (classmates Hillary Jurasek and Kara Martin who) said, ‘Yeah, you should do it.’ ”
Kloth has been the top runner in most of Darby’s races this season. She set a personal record of 21 minutes, 15.4 seconds while finishing 80th of 149 runners in the Les Eisenhart Invitational on Oct. 8 at Thomas Worthington, edged by sophomore Kathryn Martin (79th, 21:14.9).
Kloth started the season with a 22:30.7 to finish ninth of 94 runners at the Springfield Northwestern Warrior Classic on Aug. 27.
But she improved her next time out, finishing seventh (21:35.4) in the Hot Summer Bash on Sept. 3 at Davidson. She was the Panthers’ top runner in each of their first four races.
“Our goal is for her to qualify out of the district meet,” Hampton said. “It’s going to be tough. In some ways, we have to look at her like she’s a freshman. This is her first year of running cross country and she’s running incredibly well for someone who has never run cross country before in her life.”
Kathryn Martin (14th, 21:50.1) and freshman Allison Wolfe (17th, 22:13.9) led Darby at the Erin Nance Invitational on Oct. 1 at London. Kloth (22:21.2) was 21st of 69 runners.
“Time is not on our side with her, so we have to rush to get some of these goals met,” Hampton said. “With the weather getting cooler, I think she has a lot more that she’s capable of.”
Kloth’s leadership is another trait that’s helped the Panthers, according to Hampton.
“Even if she had a horrible summer and never ran well (this fall), she would benefit our team just from a culture and a leadership standpoint,” Hampton said. “She’s consistently the hardest-working individual at practice. She has this quiet, calming nature about her. You get to race day and the anxiety kicks up … and she never seems abnormally nervous.
“We try to have that as coaches, but (athletes say), ‘You’re calm because you don’t have to race. You don’t have to be in pain for 20-something minutes.’ But when they see it in her, they’re like, ‘Oh, OK, it’s going to be OK.’ That is one of the biggest things for me that’s helpful as a coach.”
Kloth ran middle distance for the track team last spring, finishing 18th in the 400 meters (1:05.74) at the Division I district meet. She set a personal record of 1:03.84 to finish fifth at the Milt Will Invitational at Canal Winchester.
“It was definitely a shift in training,” Kloth said. “The summer workouts definitely helped getting me used to running longer distances. Obviously, track workouts where you’re running 800 (meters) isn’t going to be sufficient to run 3.1 miles or a 5K. (I started) running an hour and then doing 1K workouts, then 2K workouts to build up my strength.”
She also was on Darby’s 1,600 relay that won an OCC-Cardinal Division title (4:05.91) and finished seventh at district (4:08.95), and the 3,200 relay that finished fifth at district (10:02.57).
“Having an extra six months of training under her belt is going to be an easier transition into track (next spring),” said Hampton, who also coaches distance in track. “She was running faster every single week (last track season). New (athletes) run faster every week because they’ve never done this before. Around May, it’s harder to run faster because you’re getting more consistent.
“Now that she’s gotten that consistency, we’re hoping that in March, she’s going to be able to run the times that she ran in May last year. She’ll have that consistency of training under her belt and she’ll be able to transition more easily into track season.”
Kloth, who doesn’t plan on running in college, learned a lot about herself through the experience.
“I feel like mentally, I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was,” she said. “Cross country is more mental for me a lot of the time. Being able to mentally push myself, (learning that) I can do hard things and get through it and my body is strong enough to do that, too.”
@ThisWeekRich
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Girls Cross Country: Darby's Kloth making most of only season
