Sawyer Simmons (12) and Pierson Layer (12) have been running track and cross country for their entire high school career, and this year they both got to experience the joy and excitement of competing in a state meet. Qualifying for the TSSAA State Cross Country Championship 2024 is an incredible honor, and both of these seniors were extremely deserving of the opportunity. Simmons and Layer explain the feeling of making it to the state level.
“It’s really exciting. I love that it’s my last year and I’ve still got to go do it. And I’ve been thankful and blessed to be able to make it [to state] three years now. And each time it’s been interesting, but I love it and I’m super excited,” Simmons said.
“It’s an amazing feeling that I can experience my senior year of cross country. I have put in a lot of effort throughout last season and this season, so it’s good to see all that effort come to work…Once I made it, I was super happy. Everyone was cheering and it was good that a guy runner also made state because it’s been a while,” Layer said.
Simmons and Layer both competed well at the state qualifying race and were extremely excited to compete at the state level for their last high school cross-country season. This year, one of the star runners in the committee, Darrah Wiseman, passed away. Simmons shared how the cross-country meet was dedicated to her.
“It’s going to be different this year because of the untimely passing of one of our friends in the committee that runs. And she probably would have won her division in state. She was absolutely fabulous, Darrah Wiseman. Everyone was friends with her, and now I feel like the state races are dedicated to her. Instead of us running for ourselves and against each other, we’re all kind of just running for her. So it’s going to be a very collective emotional run, but it’ll be exciting and fun,” Simmons said.
Simmons and Layer prepared for state for weeks. Layer explained what his training looked like leading up to the championship meet.
“I built up my mileage…and I even got up to 60 miles a week just to get that endurance and stamina up. I did a lot of speed workouts and a lot of those just helped me prepare for that race, and I’ve been stretching a bunch trying to stay uninjured,” Layer said.
Sawyer Simmons and Pierson Layer have worked hard and stayed dedicated to get to where they are today, and their incredible times at state show that their hard work paid off.
