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PEORIA — A group of Unity girls’ cross-country moms gathered to take a picture while their daughters finished up taking a few of their own off to the side.
Right as they started posing and smiling for the camera, Rockets coach Kara Leaman ran in out of nowhere and put something front and center at their feet. It was the Class 1A state championship trophy. Leaman wanted the moms to be included in the celebration.
It was a small gesture in what was a big day for the Rockets — winning their third straight state title, their first three-peat in program history — but it perfectly summed up how Unity got here.
Unity finished the state meet with 109 team points, 48 ahead of second place Anna-Jonesboro, to easily cruise to another memorable day at Detweiller Park for the Rockets.
Sophomore Mackenzie Pound led the way for Unity, placing 10th individually with a time of 17:36.87. But, like was the case in the past run of unprecedented success for the Rockets, a team effort delivered another banner performance to a program that is used to these types of moments.
“We just have a really supportive community that keeps us going,” Unity junior Camryn Reedy said. “We just feed off each other’s energy. We love each other so much that we fed off each other throughout the race, and that’s how we got our three-peat.”
The community that is Unity girls’ cross-country acts like one big family. The Rockets had 16 runners on the roster this season, and all 16 were at Detweiller Park on Saturday. Only seven competed in the race, but the rest were part of the journey, so it was only right that they got to experience history, too.
“They’re all part of the process to get us to this stage,” Leaman said. “There’s an incredible sense of support for each other. Sometimes, it takes a while for a team to build that, but these girls, at least the seniors, have been running together now for seven years.”
The seniors played an important leadership role all season. Having won the previous two state titles, the Rockets had a target on their backs this year. But they just kept winning leading up to state.
The winning doesn’t get old for Unity, but what can almost disappear when you’re that successful is the competition. The only competition the Rockets seemed to have was with one another, and there were times when they almost felt like opponents rather than teammates.
“When you go all season and you’re not losing, you can turn to competing against each other instead of with each other,” Leaman said. “We’ve really been working on that the last month, and our seniors were excellent leaders for that. I attribute that sense of camaraderie to our seniors.”
The seniors also led by example, and they showed it one last time Saturday in the final races of their high school careers.
Erica Woodard had never finished in the top 25 at state before, and after emerging from the start line within the lead pack, she paced herself to a 14th-place finish with a time of 17:45.26. Leaman called it “an incredible showing of what she’s been working on the last couple years.”
Olivia Shike already had quite the week before Saturday, becoming a three-time national champion by winning first place in the National FFA Agriscience Fair Social Systems Division. Now, she’s a three-time state cross-country champion after being the fifth Rocket to cross the finish line, contributing to the final team score with her 55th-place finish in 18:54.89.
Raegen Stringer dealt with injuries this season but has been back competing alongside her teammates and pushing them to be better for the last three weeks. She finished 73rd in 19:07.77. Rounding out the Rockets’ performance were juniors Emily Decker in 30th in 18:22.60, Ashlyn Denney in 52nd in 18:53.38 and Reedy in 63rd in 19:00.12.
“You can’t do this by yourself,” Reedy said. “Like our coach said, we just have to focus on each other. We have one thing that most teams don’t, and that’s great teamwork and love for our teammates. I think that’s what keeps us going.”