On a crisp fall day in Edmond, Oklahoma, a group of high school runners made history, becoming the first Bethel High School cross country program ever to become a runner-up at the Class 3A state cross country meet.
The Bethel girl’s cross country team wrapped up their most successful season in program history, winning the Class 3A regional meet for the first time and placing second at the state meet.
The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association Class 3A state meet was held at Edmond Santa Fe High School on October 29, featuring 157 high school runners. Bethel placed second out of 21 3A schools, only falling to Regent Preparatory School of Tulsa.
Bethel had two top 10 finishers, sophomores Baylee Tapley, who placed third, and Kylie Nunneley who placed sixth. The pair also received All-State honors for their performance.
Tapley and Nunneley finished with impressives times of 12:34.39 and 12:44.60 in the two mile run.
Sophomores Shyla Arnold, Brylan Webb and Paityn Seiger placed 18th, 32nd and 142nd, respectively. Rounding out the state team, freshman Grace Epperley placed 57th and senior Bella Thomas placed 71st.
The team also won five meets during the regular season. “That is a hard task to do,” said head coach Taylor Opskar. “They set their minds to it and believed they could do it and they did.”
Though the team is young, they accumulated experience as most of the team returned from last season.
“The main difference this year is that the girls set goals as a team and all had the same unified mindset the entire season,” Opskar said. “This season, the girls came to practice to work hard every single day and had positive attitudes because they all wanted to reach the same goal.”
The improvements from the 2021 season are apparent. Bethel placed ninth out of 21 at last year’s state meet, with Tapley being the only top 10 finisher at sixth.
Opskar, a seven year distance running coach, said this year’s team was the hardest working group she has ever coached. “I don’t know that they ever complained about a workout one time,” said Opskar. “They truly had unbelievable attitudes the entire season and I think you can clearly see the benefits from that.
The Bethel cross country program will look to build off the success of this season. The program will only graduate one senior and return all five of the scoring runners at state, including allstate recipients Tapley and Nunneley. Arnold, Webb and Epperley will also return for the Lady Wildcats.
“Hopefully this will be an amazing platform to continue to grow the program at Bethel,” Opskar said. “I am so incredibly excited to see what more these girls can do when they put their minds to it. With the drive these girls have, anything is possible.”
