by Girls Cross Country written by head coach Travis Haselswerdt in his 19th season.
Last year’s dual meet record (overall and league): 10-0
Noteworthy postseason, league and weekend invitational meet finishes: 1st at Bay Rocket Inv’l, SWC Championships, and District Championships. Finished 4th at Regionals and 11th at State.
Strengths
Two words – depth and drive. In terms of depth, we return nine of last year’s top 10 runners, including six of the seven who qualified to State and finished 11th overall. Our top three of sophomore’s Sarah Peer, Ellie Irwin, and Stephanie Nivellini ran together all last season, through cross country and track, and continued that work this summer, and look to pick up where they left off last fall.
Sarah, who finished 9th in the 800 at the OHSAA Track & Field Championships, looks stronger than ever, while Ellie, who finished 6th in the 1600 at Regionals is right behind. Stephanie, meanwhile, continues to get stronger, giving us the strongest front three in school history.
Track specialist Sarah Colman, who ran XC for the first time last season and was in the team top five all year long, looks stronger and more confident than last season, and should join with fellow junior – and two-sport standout (soccer) – Sydney Peer, a two-time Regional qualifier in her own right, to solidify the team’s top five.
Sophomore’s Avery Douglas, Marissa Cutter, and Willa McCoy, all a part of the team’s top 10 last season, look even stronger this year, and with the addition of fellow sophomore Christina Ware, who has impressed all summer long, the team looks to have the depth needed to score important points.
Add to this impressive list the leadership of senior captain’s Grace Holmes, Moira McCarthy, and Eva Stipanovich, combined with our biggest freshman class in program history, and the squad looks to have the depth necessary to enjoy a strong season.
In terms of drive, this group has been determined since last fall to enjoy the same success they experienced in 2020, and as soon as that season was complete, they started planning – and then working – for this season.
They’ve used all the positive experiences from the past year, from Sarah and Stephanie qualifying to the OATCCC Indoor State Track & Field meet (and Sarah finishing 5th) to the group of Sarah, Ellie, Stephanie, Sydney, and Sarah Colman setting new WHS records in numerous track events, to the team winning the SWC Championships and finishing runner-up at Districts, to motivate them to work even harder this summer.
But they’ve also used the set backs of the past year, from injuries during the year to not qualifying to State in particular track events, to motivate them as well. As a result, their drive to succeed has permeated the entire team, and as such, the entire group is working hard to achieve their goals, both team and personal.
Weaknesses
Inexperience, both in terms of meets and in terms of running. While the girls enjoyed enormous success last season and performed admirably, most of our meets, due to Covid restrictions, were smaller level tri-meets, and the only big meets we competed in all season long were post-season meets.
As a result, the big Saturday invitationals that are on our schedule this season will be a new experience, and how we react to those meets will be quite a learning process. In terms of running, much of our squad is very young and, in regards to our sophomores, have had very long seasons.
Taking care of ourselves and making sure we stay healthy will be a key and important goal, because if these girls can line up healthy during the post-season, this year could be even more memorable than last season.
