As a junior at Cincinnati Christian High School, Bragg won the Division III state cross country championship in a time of 15 minutes, 54.79 seconds. He set a personal-best time by 12 seconds.
“It was really cool,” Bragg said. “It was exactly what I wanted to do.”
He has his sights set on defending his state title. Only this year, he’ll be wearing purple and gold.
Bragg enrolled at Emmanuel Christian Academy this summer when his father, Dr. Daniel Bragg, became the school’s new superintendent.
“It’s tough, but with cross country you can easily bring your sport to any school,” Bragg said.
It’s not every day a coach gets handed a state champion, especially the coach of a program in its second year of existence.
But that’s exactly what happened to Lions boys cross country coach Chris Lundquist.
“It makes our team better instantly,” Lundquist said. “We go from an average team to contenders in the conference just like that. It’s huge.”
Bragg comes from a running background. His dad helped West Liberty-Salem win three state team championships. His brother, Josiah, was a four-time state qualifier who now runs at Cedarville University.
Isaiah will be joined at Emmanuel by his younger brother, Noah. The Braggs will have three teammates on the cross country team who all play soccer as well — sophomores Evan Linn and Jared Klawer and freshman Wes Haney.
It’s the first year the Lions will field a full team, but they’ve already got lofty goals — like qualifying for the Division III regional meet.
“That’s our goal,” Lundquist said. “We’re going to have to have all five guys come out and run really well. I think it’s realistic if everyone comes out and puts in the work.”
Isaiah knows there will be pressure to defend his title this fall, but he’s not worried about it. He put in 65 miles a week to help improve his times this season.
“I don’t really feel a lot of pressure,” Bragg said. “I always have expectations, high goals for myself. I want to be a state champion again, and I want to see what our team can do. I just want to achieve those goals.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0365 or mcooper@coxohio.com.
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