HOUMA CHRISTIAN'S EMMA BOURG GETS OUT TO A FAST START AT THE WATSON HS CLASSIC!
Houma Christian's Emma Bourg wasn't feeling great Saturday morning, but she was able to push through and win the Watson High School Classic in Clinton, Mississippi with a time of 18:29, which is a 5K personal record.
"It was really pretty weather," Bourg said. "It was a good course. It was definitely different because it was a 5K. I felt pretty good, but at the same time a little sick. I was just trying to push through it and win the race. I wasn't worried about PRs and stuff like that. "
Bourg, a University of New Orleans commit, came through the first mile at 5:45, which was a little slower than she would have liked.
"The course was a little rough with more rolling hills than I'm used to running," Bourg said.
She was helped by the top three runners from St. Joseph's Academy.
"I could hear people yelling for me and then people yelling for them so I knew they were right behind me," Bourg said. "That helped me because I knew that I wasn't out front all alone."
While she is not the only runner on the Houma Christian team, the school lacks the numbers to field a complete team. Bourg has not let that stop her from competing at a high level.
"Since I was in eighth grade, I've been on smaller teams," Bourg said. "It would be nice to have a big team, but, unfortunately, I don't have that. I do have my dad to be my training partner."
Bourg said she gets her workouts from Braedon Methivin, a sophomore at Mississippi College, and that her dad will run the workouts with her.
Who is faster? Bourg or her dad?
"I don't know," Bourg laughed. "He said if I get any faster he might not be able to keep up with me."
Bourg said her goals coming into this year were to run sub 18:00, but a 17:21 at the St. Joseph's Academy Invitational caused her to go back to the drawing board on her goal sheet.
"When I ran that time, I was like "wow!"," Bourg said. "It was a meet record and a course record, and it completely obliterated the goal I set for myself this season. I had to readjust."
Now, with only three meets remaining in her senior season, Bourg is hoping to break 17:00.
Her next opportunity will come at regionals, then the LHSAA State Cross Country Meet at Northwestern State University on Monday, November 14.
While the state meet will be the end of the road for most cross country runners in Louisiana, that will not be the case for Bourg. She will compete in the RunningLane Championships in Huntsville, Alabama in December.
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