Small Girls' Cross Country Squad Builds Camaraderie

Record: 2-3 Girls’ cross country came into thispast season with a significantly smallerand less experienced team than the yearbefore, in which they finished with astrong 4-1 record. Yet, despite all difficultiesthrown their way, the team was still able topull off a respectable 3-3 record. The team was comprised of a mixof returning and new runners on bothJV and varsity, with seniors ChristinaCollis, Hannah O’Grady and Sarah VanCleave leading as captains. Assistant coach Dale Braile praisedthe work the captains did with othergirls on the squad. “[They] did a greatjob of pulling the team together into asupportive group,” she said. Braile also commented on the unifiednature of the entire team. “The runnersencouraged each other in practicesas well as during the meets. Some ofthem were very challenging. Insteadof competing against one another, theyalways stayed focused on competingagainst the other team.” Van Cleave applauded the girls’spirit even during difficult times.“Whether we were predicted to win orlose, the girls approached each meetwith a genuine desire to work their hardestand represent their team in a positivelight,” she said. Head coach Gwynneth Coogan wasalso proud of her team’s efforts. “Thegirls ran faster, stronger and better thananyone would have predicted,” she said.Given that lower Elsa Chinburg was theonly returning runner from the 2011varsity squad, the team’s performancewas very impressive. Despite a 12th place finish at Interscholsfor varsity and 7th place for JV,the final competition still represented allthe hard work the girls put in throughouttheir time on the team. “There is agreat deal to be positive about vis-a-visPEAGXC2012,” Coogan said. “We hadgreat leadership from our captains. Allof the girls on the team improved their5K time over the course of the season.” “Although our place at Interscholswas lower than we had hoped, a closeanalysis of the results showed that ourtimes were not far off from a much betterplacement,” Braile said. “The workfor next year begins this summer. If allof our returning runners train over thesummer, we can begin the next seasonin a good place to make those timescome down enough to move up in theInterschols ranking next November.That’s the goal.” Van Cleave agreed and added thatthe mix of experienced and inexperiencedrunners provided a great balanceto the team. “The girls all seemed to really beworking together, with a good competitive,adventurous spirit,” she said. “Wehad many positive experiences duringmeets, too. Our new runners were excitedand open about working hard andnot scared to step into varsity positions,[and] our veteran runners returned witha real respect for the sport and desire tobe good team leaders.” Coogan talked about her wishes forthe team in the coming season. “Nextyear, we are hoping that our young teamis able to train well over the summer andcome back to school with a great baseof strength and race about 15 secondsper mile faster than they did this year,”she said. Van Cleave agreed. “I hope that theteam will approach next season witha true competitive grit, willingness toexceed expectations every day, a summer’sworth of solid base training ontheir legs and a passion to be the bestrunners, teammates, and leaders possible,”she said. Varsity will be bringing back fourof their top seven runners: Chinburg,Bright, and preps Audra Smires andAnnie Dunigan. They will also look tolowers Olivia Pritchard, Clara Hobbieand Maddie Logan to continue improvingtheir times and fill out a fantasticvarsity seven for next year. “We also hope that we can add oneor two experienced runners to our rosterand put ourselves back in the top 4 teamsat Interschols,” Coogan added. Coogan also devoted the 2012 seasonto Coach Rick Parris, the founder ofExeter’s girls’ cross country program in1978, who passed away in the fall. “The most significant event of theseason was the death of Rick Parris,the man who started the whole thingwith PEAGXC1978,” she said. “In thecoming years, we hope to continue onwith his example of turning WORKinto PLAY – WORK, WORD, WARD,WART...you try it – and winning againstthe Blue as he, despite all of his higherthoughts and selfless acts, loved to do,”she said. In the end, a true passion for thesport bonds the athletes every year andkeeps these cross-country girls running.“The team really came together throughoutthe season,” Bright said. “The crosscountry team is full of a bunch of reallygreat girls. I think as a team we reallycame together during the season to pusheach other through the tough workouts.Having teammates that motivate youthrough those hill workouts is reallyawesome.” “We had many positive forces workingon our team to inspire, motivate, andlead by example,” Coogan said. “Thispast season was a real renaissance fora lot of formerly injured runners and itwas great to see them fall in love withthe sport all over again and give it everything.”