By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Paige Voigtschild, a quiet 15-year old, would rather answer most questions with a shoulder shrug, rather than a verbal response. Her feet do all her talking.
Bedford North Lawrence’s sophomore breakout standout will race among the elite when she competes in the IHSAA state championship race on Saturday. She’s the first BNL runner to qualify for the final stage of the state tournament series since Autumn Spence in 2020.
Voigtschild advanced to the state meet with her performance in the regional at Angel Mounds, earning one of the 15 tickets for individuals who were not members of qualifying teams. So she’ll be a lonely Star, overshadowed by the huge pack of 250 competitors. They will notice her when she starts shooting past people.
“I normally start at the back, just keep passing people the whole race,” Voigtschild said. “It would be fun to go out fast, but I start out slower, I don’t want to get tired after the first mile. I’m trying to get a new personal record. This course has more hills, but there will be a lot of fast people to push me. I like the course.“
Voigtschild got her first look at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the Terre Haute host for the state finals, when BNL competed in the regular-season Valley Kickoff opener on Aug. 17. She clocked 20:31.8 in that race while finishing 18th overall.
She’s on track to break the 20-minute barrier again. During the regular-season race at Angel Mounds, she posted 20:30.3, then shifted into another gear to finish the regional in 19:48.17. Another similar time drop in the state meet would be a fitting finale.
“I didn’t know if I would be able to get under 20 minutes,” she said. “So I was surprised when I did. I knew it would be close.”
Whatever race strategy her coaches map out, she will follow.
“She’s special because she is so quiet, she’s very coachable,” BNL co-coach Amy Greenan said. “She listens to what you say, and pretty much does it to the letter. She will have a lot of people to key on, and everybody there is a high quality runner. And she’s getting faster and faster. That’s exciting. She’s going to go for it.”
“We give her a plan, and she executes it,” co-coach Danielle Garrison added. “She likes to chase. I hope she enjoys herself, just soak it all in.”
Voigtschild comes from a running family, and she started this pursuit when she was 8 years old.
“It’s exciting because I’ve been running for a long time,” she said. “It’s nice to see that it’s all paid off. I like pushing myself.”
If she doesn’t get caught in the backwash of the huge field, finishing under 20 minutes will probably put her in the middle of the pack. Last season, cracking the top 100 required 19:18.9. Once she gets started, the adrenaline of racing and competing will kick in.
“She knows how to race,” Greenan said. “She has perfect form. She can be on the track, whether it’s her first lap or 10th lap, and she does not waver. She’s a beautiful runner. This will not be her last trip to the state finals.“
The girls race will begin at noon.
