Neuqua's Pawola places at nationals

Pawola

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Neuqua Valley senior Danny Pawola finished 13th overall in the 2008 Foot Locker Cross County Championships Saturday in San Diego.

Compiling a time of 15:46, Pawola crossed the finish line simultaneously with Leoule Degfae, a senior from Thomas Edison High School in Alexandria, Va. By finishing in the top 15, Pawola earned All-American honors in the final cross country race of his high school career.

"I knew going into the race that it was going to be going out really fast," Pawola said in a phone interview. "Historically, (races) always go out really fast. (During) the first mile, I was in probably somewhere between 33rd and 37th place, for the most part.

"I was just looking up, seeing a whole bunch of guys, and somewhere around the mile and the quarter mile and a half mark, I just started picking off guys one by one, slowly moving up. Eventually, I found another gear and just kept on picking guys off."

Pawola qualified for the 2008 Foot Locker Cross County Championships by finishing ninth overall, with a time of 15:28, in the Midwest Regional Nov. 29 in Kenosha, Wis.

Pawola also was a member of the Neuqua contingent that finished first overall at the 2007 Nike Team Nationals in Portland, Ore.

"With our team last year, I was really fortunate," he said. "We had so many hard-working, dedicated guys, and it just all came together in the right year. We won state. We won Nike Cross. That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Something like that doesn't happen very often, so to be a part of that was wonderful. It was great. I wouldn't give (it up for anything)."