Weekly Spotlight - Sam Zoellner

SAM ZOELLNER

• School: Oak Ridge

Class: Senior

Sport: Cross country

Accomplishment: Zoellner was the first girl to cross the finish line last Wednesday at the Oak Ridge Invitational cross country meet, finishing in a personal best for her home course -- 21 minutes and 24 seconds. She was nearly two minutes ahead of the second-place finisher. Zoellner also was the top local girl Oct. 2 at the Notre Dame Invitational, finishing 13th overall in 22:24.

Zoellner: "I just want to make it back to state and try to medal this year." She was 43rd in the Class 1 state race last year; the top 25 earn medals.

Coach Jason Niswonger: "She works hard in practice and sets a good example for the other runners. I think she still has more potential than what she shows because she looks so smooth when she's running. It's effortless."