Cross-country captures state title
Laura Hahn
They run up and down hills
and in and out of parks. They push
themselves to the limit to reach one goal. They are cross-country runners.
"Gold it will be in
2003!" Marian's cross-country team
started the season with this goal.
The team has taken state three of last six years. Senior Megan Millea,
juniors Sara Prince, Katie Kersenbrock, and Whitney Jones, sophomore Rachel
Truckenbrod, and freshmen Katie Kelly and Erin Toohey helped to bring home the
team's first gold medal since 1999.
Maggie Berigan and Laura Koesters were at the meet to cheer the team on
and be ready to run if any one of the top seven runners were injured.
"It was a team effort all
the way through. All [the team
members] felt a sense of accomplishment at what they did," said head coach Mr.
Roger Wright.
With only 29 seconds between
the first and last runner, Marian came out on top with a score of 87. Burke came in second with a score of
89, and Millard North followed with a score of 91.
Every day since the middle
of August, 46 runners dedicated their weekday afternoons to cross-country.
"Mr. Wright gives us so
many minutes to run on the weekend," said Kersenbrock. "Once the season
starts, we practice three to four times a week because we usually have one
or two meets a week."
Assistant coach Mr. Greg
Golka said his favorite part of coaching cross-country is the
teamwork. "They all cheer for each
other and respect each other because they all run the same amount. It's lots of fun to be around a group
of people that's really positive.
They are all working hard towards a goal," said Golka.
Mr. Wright went into the
season with one goal: " I try to get everyone well at the end [of the
season]". Wright said he wants
each runner to keep improving so they can run their best at the end of the
season. He felt the team was able
to accomplish that goal, as well as their goal of winning state.
Mr. Wright loves to coach
and has been coaching for 31 years.
He says his favorite part is simply helping the girls. "You can take belief in yourself far
beyond sports. You can use it
[faith in yourself] for the rest of your life," said Wright.
The 11 seniors, 13 juniors,
13 sophomores, and nine freshman that make up the cross country team achieved
their goal of winning state and will continue to work hard to achieve this
goal next season.