By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – In the race to enter this competitive world, Claire was the final Voigtschild triplet to make her appearance. She’s been behind sister Paige, who was the first across that miraculous finish line, ever since – until last weekend, when that established order changed without pre-approval or warning and shattered the time-space continuum of Bedford North Lawrence cross country.
Running the best race of her life, Claire glided to a second-place finish in the IHSAA regional at Crawford County. Paige was fourth in the field, both seniors earning spots in the state finals. They will run together, just like they arrived, for the final time on the LaVern Gibson championship course in Terre Haute on Saturday. Paige will make her third consecutive trip to the final stage of the state tournament series.
Paige’s achievement is remarkable, but that’s not the big story. For the first time ever, a fact they disagree about, Claire was the frontrunner in the pecking order. Was that accurate? They’re not identical triplets, so there was no confusing one for the other, and the identifying bibs or tracking chips on the uniforms did not get switched. Claire, finally healthy and showing it with every performance over the last two months, churned her way to the line with another personal-best time, lowering that for the fourth time in seven events.
Tracking Claire’s amazing transformation from middle-of-the-pack finisher to blue-ribbon contender reveals a steep downhill slide – and that’s a good thing when the graph is time. She clocked 21:20:45 in the first 5K home race under a blazing August sun, then started shaving seconds in huge chunks in September (19:27.0 at Columbus, 19:23.25 at Jennings County) and October (19:11.83 in the Hoosier Hills Conference meet and finally 18:40.5 in the regional). Everyone in the cross country clique was taking notice.
What’s her secret? Part of it was physical. She was battling iron deficiency, which she solved when she switched to a gluten-free diet, gaining strength and stamina. Part of it was mental. She had to realize how good she could be, how much time could be saved with improved form (needing a reminder to keep the flailing arms tight to her side) and a body working for her rather than betraying her with every step.
“I have no idea,” Claire said when asked about her time ceiling. “I keep thinking that I’ve run my fastest time, and the next time I cut off even more. I’ve surprised myself. At the start of the season, I would start at the same pace but get tired and slow down. But now I keep running hard the entire time.“
“I was talking to my dad, and he said it’s like she’s been living at altitude,” BNL coach Amy Greenan said. “Then she just came down to sea level. It’s really amazing, the progress.
“She trains hard, works hard. It’s been so much fun to see an athlete as determined as she is, to have this window open for her. It’s going to shut real quick, since she’s a senior, so she’s holding nothing back. She’s taking every opportunity she can to move as fast up as she can.”
Claire seems to recall beating her sister during an elementary race, which drew a quick glance of annoyance from Paige and revealed a flash of the only visible sibling rivalry between the quiet runners. This is certain – neither will forget the documented one. Paige, who tends to run with eyes down, fixed five feet ahead like the ground is a grindstone for her nose, had no idea when Claire took off to chase Bloomington South’s Lexi Kollbaum at the front.
“I just look at the ground,” Paige said. “I can see people around me, but I look at the ground to see where my feet will go. I wasn’t paying attention, didn’t really notice who was getting further away. She was way up there.”
“Paige ran a great race,” Greenan said. “If anyone else beat her, it wouldn’t be as much of a shock. And they love each other, they’re sisters. If anything, they’re going to help each other go faster.”
Paige actually spoke this final pairing into existence. She was 178th in the state as a sophomore, 92nd last year, but going alone was not enjoyable. “Last year, I was like ‘It’s fun coming here, but next year I want to come with someone else,’” she said. “And it happened. It’s just having someone there that you know.”
Paige’s best time is 18:40.3, set at Brown County earlier this year. Claire plans to stick as close to her sister as possible in the huge herd of the 250-runner field. If they can duplicate their top times in the state finals, it would likely place them in the top 40 (using last year’s results as a comparison tool). It all depends on race strategy and pace.
“I just want to place as high as I can,” Paige said. “It’s deciding how to go out. If you go out conservatively, you’ll be at the back of the pack. But you don’t want to go out too fast that you burn out. It’s finding the balance.”
Running has always been a Voigtschild family event, with the sisters following in the footsteps of older siblings Amber and Quentin. Ben, the third of the triplets, is also into speed, but his niche is motor sports. His sisters provide their own horsepower. They are synchronized, in stride, chasing each other for a final race.
“I would like to see them get out fast,” Greenan said. “Get your head up, be aware. Look up and see who’s in front, how they look. Can you catch them? They will be fine, picking people off the whole race. Be aware of where they are, and who they are.”
The girls race in the state finals will begin at noon.
