CHRISMAN — Last year, when Oakwood/Armstrong-Potomac’s Ciara Pierce found herself placing at the top of nearly all of her cross country races, she began to feel pretty good about herself, and her chances of having a successful performance at the state competition.

The problem was, she never made it to state. By the end of the season, she hit a wall and just wanted it to be over.

“Last year, I just got out of therapy, and I was ready to run,” Pierce said. “I pushed in every single practice. Last year, all I thought about was winning. I wanted to go out there and win. And I didn’t know what to expect, either. I didn’t know how hard I should train. I didn’t know what my pace should be. I just went out there and ran it. I felt good. I peaked really fast. Then, I just couldn’t do anymore because I made my body go into shock so soon.”

Now as a junior, she is determined to finish the season on a better note, and qualify for state. In an effort to maximize her late-season goals, Pierce decided to take a different approach to her cross country training.

Instead of running, she spent the summer doing other things, like swimming and being crew chief for her brother, Bobby, who races a Crate Late Model.

“We did summer runs, but when they said it was easy runs, easy miles, slow, 40 minutes, that’s what I did,” Pierce said. “I didn’t do as much. I probably should have done a little bit more (in miles), but I said I didn’t want that to happen to my body like I did last year. I got weak. I lost so much weight, and I just wasn’t strong. At the end, I was ready for it to be done.”

At Saturday’s 29th Annual Cow Chip Classic, Pierce placed fifth among the event’s top runners with a time of 20 minutes, 11 seconds. Her time was an improvement from Wednesday’s second place finish of 20:43 at the Kickapoo Kickoff Klassic. Though she realizes taking a different approach will help her qualify for the state meet, she finds herself getting anxious to finish ahead of the pack.

“It is frustrating because I want to be up there like I was last year,” Pierce said. “I keep thinking about last year too much. I need to think about how this is a new year, and it’s still the beginning. It’s only the beginning of September, and I’ve got until October to be really strong.

“I feel bad because I’m not up there and I’m tired and I’m wore out,” she said, thinking about trailing during a race.” I’m pushing myself, but this is all I’ve got right now. So it’s really different from last year. But I’m really hoping by training this way that I’m going to peak later on, and I’m going to be better than last year at the very end.”

OAP coach Tim Lee said Pierce is currently about 30 seconds behind where she was at this point last season. His team is still increasing mileage, and though Pierce understands the ultimate goal, Lee has seen her competitive side come out after two races. But after barely missing the qualifying mark for state last season, both agree it will all be worth it in October.

“She’s a racer,” Lee said. “She wants to win. She actually has to dial herself back. That’s tough for her, but so far she’s taken the coaching, and I think she’s doing all the right things.

“I think she’s a little bit frustrated, but I think she’s frustrated with not winning. I don’t think she’s frustrated with the program. She just likes to be the frontrunner. She’s close. We’re right there with the pack we want to be.”

Bismarck-Henning’s Kari Free had the next best time among area runners, finishing in 22:55. The overall winner in the top girls division was Mahomet-Seymour’s Brittany Bohn, who finished in 19:08, though teammate Tessa Hanlon had the day’s fastest time of 18:47 (in the second division).

Mahomet-Seymour also won the girls team title with seven points while St. Joseph-Ogden placed second with 16. It was the 10th consecutive year Mahomet-Seymour finished in either first or second place.