By Dustin Ortman
Trojan Tribune Staff
Photo courtesy of SDPB.com
A year ago, the West Central girls’ cross country team was running toward their goal of hanging the school’s first ever XC banner in the gym. They entered the state meet as one of many strong teams in class A. By way of their tough pack running abilities, the Lady Trojans ran to a second place finish, resulting in the school’s first XC banner.
With most of their team back this year, the ladies have high hopes of bringing home some more hardware. It won’t be easy, however; defending state champion Garretson will be looking to take home a second title, and Spearfish will bring a strong team into their first year as a class A school. But first year head coach, Rebecca Wahl, is confident in the team’s pack running abilities. “We don’t have one ‘flashy’ runner, but a solid pack of runners that are consistent and determined,” stated Wahl. “That is what placed them second at state last year.”
Things certainly look to be falling into place at just the right time with a runner-up finish behind Garretson at the region meet a week ago. The girls are poised for a very strong showing in Sioux Falls this Saturday.
The road to get there was not an easy one by any means. Less than halfway through the season, a stress fracture forced freshman Hanna Wahl out of commission. “It’s never easy when you lose one of your lead runners. The girls lost some confidence at the first few meets, but McKayla Wieczorek and Rachel Noonan really stepped up, and that seemed to get the girls back on track,” commented Coach Wahl. Fortunately, after many hours in the pool, on the elliptical and in the weight room, Hanna fought back and ran a phenomenal race at regions.
She wasn’t the only one who had an outstanding meet last Thursday in Deubrook, as five of the girls finished in the top 20. Senior Emily Mammenga placed 4th, sophomores Summer Smith and McKayla Wieczorek placed 7th and 10th respectively, Wahl finished 12th and senior Rachel Noonan came in 19th.
The boys narrowly missed sending a team to state as they placed 4th out of 10 teams. Sophomore Garrett Miles individually qualified for state with a 14th place finish, and less than half a second was all that separated senior Joe Schartz from a trip to state as he finished 21st.
Commenting on the season, Wahl said, “Cross country is a sport that draws a certain crowd; the kids are tough, determined, eager and a bit crazy. I couldn’t have asked for a better crew of kids.”
The girls will run at 1:30pm on Oct. 22, at Yankton Trails Park in Sioux Falls, and the boys will run at 2:30.
