Born to Run: Maggie Rhodes and Woodruff Cross Country
Part 4 of The Woodruff Times Wolverine history series profiles distance runner Maggie Rhodes and her run of state cross country titles.
The Woodruff Times published Part 4 of its 12-part Wolverine history series, "Born to Run," on November 2, 2020. Here is our summary.
The story profiles Maggie Rhodes, then a Woodruff High senior. She first ran with the team as a second grader after a local storytelling-festival run caught the eye of Coach Steve Ramey, trained with the team from the summer before third grade, and joined the varsity squad in seventh grade. She won her first individual state title as an eighth grader in 2016 and went on to win more, including a personal best of 18:45 at the 2017 state meet. At the 2019 state meet in Camden she edged a Chapman runner at the finish. In spring track she added several state titles in the 3,200 and 1,600 meters, and the Times says her gold medals would outnumber those of any other athlete in school history.
The article also covers setbacks, including shin splints in 2019 and a stress fracture in 2020, and notes that the school's athletic hall of fame has no cross country inductees yet. Ty Skinner was the head coach, with Haley Crowe Lawson assisting.
This is our own summary; the full reporting is at The Woodruff Times (link below). The source's title-streak counts are not fully consistent, so we leave them out.