Editor’s note: This is the second part of a summer series revisiting the best of “The Prep Zone” sports show at locally owned Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville, featuring interviews with area coaches and players with host Mike Ridaught from the 2024-25 seasons.
The Buchholz boys and girls cross country teams, along with head coaches Mike Maren (girls) and Patrick Douma (boys), joined Mainstreet Daily News Sports Director Mike Ridaught on his weekly high school sports show on Nov. 20, 2024.
The boys team won the 2024 Class 4A state title for the first time since 1994, while the girls finished as state runners-up. The Bobcat teams flipped places from 2023, when the girls finished first and the boys earned second.
Below are excerpts from the Nov. 20 interview — edited for length and clarity — of The Prep Zone’s interview. You can listen to the full conversation, which is archived online.
Q: Congratulations on winning the first state title for the Buchholz boys cross country in 30 years. Talk about the big day.
Patrick Douma: Yeah, it was an amazing day. It was something we looked forward to from last year. We were planning to go out and do this. We got second last year, so certainly part of the plan, but plans have to be executed. I think just getting to that day for the kids and knowing they’re ready to do it and then doing it. It’s pretty exciting. It’s really just nuts and bolts, though. It’s just showing up, like a day of practice, and executing. Kind of like a script and trying to figure out what we need to do on that day to be state champions, and so that’s what we did. I’m proud of the kids. It’s fun to be around the kids. I’m blessed to be around each of the kids I coach, real blessing.
Q: It’s kind of interesting or ironic because the two teams or two programs flip-flopped last year. The girls finished first last year, and they were second this year, and the boys were second last year and first this year. What was the key, because you talked about a conservative game plan?
Patrick Douma: I had a lot of confidence in our kids, but we’ve been a little banged up. So, the idea was let’s do what we would do in practice. A lot of times, we have a backloaded practice, which means the hard stuff comes at the end of practice. Looking at the week before, where we had run the regionals, we won by two points, and we kind of let it fly there. I think it was one of the times where I said, ‘Hey guys, we don’t really have a plan. Let’s go really hard and see what happens.’ And winning by two points at regionals, that’s not a great spot when you want to win the next meet, so we just went back to a pretty conservative script where I tell everybody, this is where we want to be at this point, this is where we want to be at the two mile, and then we start to run very similar to what we do in any of our hard practices. And I felt that if everyone ran under those circumstances, if everyone ran okay, we didn’t have anyone break, we would do what we did. You’re trying to be calculated. You’re trying to figure out what do you need to do so that everyone runs at least okay, and I felt very confident if we ran at least okay. So, we just created a script, go through the script, and everyone knows the script. We walked through it the day before and tried to execute it.
Q: Mike, talk about the girls state runner-up finish.
Mike Maren: I was really proud of the girls, too. First of all, I’d like to say I’m proud of the boys, our whole program is strong…this year we (girls) had some young runners, and we had a couple of veterans, but they pretty much stepped up at the state meet and they actually ran better than they did last year, like they I think they averaged 19:15, but that Creekside (St. Johns) team (state champions), I knew we weren’t going to beat them if they ran their best race, so they would have to falter a little bit…they were a super strong team, so I’m just proud of the way the girls ran. They stepped up, and on that particular day they ran their best race of the year.
Q: Eleanor Whisler finished 11th individually. How do you think you performed both individually and as a team?
Eleanor Whisler (SR): I think I performed really well. I was running more for the team and not running for the clock. I knew that my place would contribute to the team’s final score, and I just tried to get the least amount of points as possible. So, 11th was a good finish for me….going into it, we (the team) were predicted to get fourth, and we pulled through and got second, and I think we really earned it. We worked super hard this year, and I’m super proud of our team.
Q: Talk about your career because you won three straight state championships and then a state runner-up finish.
Eleanor Whisler (SR): Yes, I think we’re really lucky to have such a strong team since my freshman year. We’ve won the past three years, and then this year we got state runner-up. We were really hoping for that gold this year, but Creekside was a powerhouse. They were really hard to beat. I’m proud of how far we’ve come, and I think it’s all based on talent, but also on team chemistry.
Q: Ashley, as a four-year member of the cross country team, talk about winning three state titles and a state runner-up finish.
Ashley Hamilton (SR): Yeah, we’ve always had a great team, chemistry, and since we’ve won so many times, we kind of took it for granted. I feel like this year was a lot harder, especially since Creekside came out of nowhere. But yeah, I love this team, and it’s sad that I’m a senior and we’re done.
Q: After finishing fourth individually, how much does that motivate you now going into your senior year next year and maybe want to better what you did this past year?
Demetrie Meyers (JR): I mean Gino (Palazzolo) and I are training partners, so it really is a big inspiration, and it’s a big burden on my back, because I feel like I have to lead the team to that next state championship, but even though it’s a lot to handle I think we could get it, especially, like Sam (Freas) said, we do have a lot of good guys that are ready for next year.
Q: Gino, congratulations not only on a state championship for the team, but the individual title as well. Talk about your big day.
Gino Palazzolo (SR): Oh man, this was super special. The guys last year had to leave with a second-place finish, so for me to be able to get one point for my team and pull that off, it was something super special. I know these guys are going to remember it. I’m going to remember it for probably the rest of my life.
Q: Tell me about FSU and the opportunity to compete at the next level.
Gino Palazzolo (SR): It’s a dream come true for me. Ever since my freshman year, when I really started getting into the sport, I’ve been looking at competing at the next level. I love running. I love what it brings, you know, just the culture, the friends, the family. I went on a visit to FSU, and it was super exciting. I’m super thankful to the coaches for giving me the opportunity.