RUNNER'S WORLD: ATHENS' GRAHAM ENJOYING HIS FIRST YEAR OF VARSITY (October 20, 2023)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
Athens freshman Graham Wanck has taken the NTL by storm this year. Now he’s hoping to do the same at districts.

“It’s a lot different than junior high,” Wanck said. “But all the Glory to God. I work hard, he gets me here, and I’m just super glad to be able to do this sport.”

Wanck wasn’t able to run during the month of July due to an injury, but made up for it since then.

“I just worked as hard as possible, and just get in the shape I know I can be in,” he explained.

The biggest difference for him between 1.5 miles in junior high and 3.1 at the varsity level is the racing.

“It’s more tactical,” he said. “At one and a half, you can kind of just do what you want, but you’ve got to have a plan going into these races,” said Wanck.

He’s gone up against two state medalists in the league this year - NEB’s Creed Dewing and CV’s Kristian Mizdail. He was third to them at the NTLs, but led much of the way.

“The more I race them the better I’m going to get,” he said. “They’re such good racers.”

He’ll be in another contest with good racers at the District IV, Class AA championships this coming Thursday. The district is one of the best in the state in Class AA, so he’ll get to measure himself against some of the best in Pennsylvania.

“Just have fun with it,” he said about his game plan. “It’s a hard sport, you’ve got to have fun.”