Sports
LARRY BENNET
The Magnificat cross country team hope hard work and good chemistry pay off this year.
Magnificat cross country team tries to continue dominating tradition
Scott Watertown
Rocky River
Ever since Magnificat won its second consecutive girls state cross country championship last season, Coach Anjanette Arabian Whitman gets the same question from all sorts of people:
“What’s your team going to be like this year?”
Arabian Whitman smiles and tells them, “We have fresh faces who are ready to go and have their turn. They have waited patiently for the older girls to move on. Now, they’re ready to do their thing.”
Last season, the Magnificat girls were truly dominant. They scored the lowest total ever, for either boys or girls in any division--28 points--in a state cross country championship meet in Ohio. The previous record low score was 33 points. The lowest possible score would be 15 points.
“We had 15 points at a couple of regular season meets, but I don’t think anybody will ever do that at state,” Arabian Whitman said. “There is just too much talent.”
Last December, Magnificat journeyed to a national cross country meet in Portland, finishing fifth overall.
A year earlier, after winning the state title, Magnificat went to the same national meet in Portland and wound up 16th.
Five top runners from a year ago now are running for Division I colleges. Last year’s top runner, Maddie Chambers (Georgetown), won the 1600-meter run in state track the last two years.
“Maddie is the school record holder for just about everything,” Arabian Whitman said.
The other four graduated runners are twins Abby and Clare Fischer (both at Xavier), Erin Riley (Miami of Ohio) and Mary Whitmore (Loyola of Chicago).
“Last year was exciting and fun, but it was not normal,” Arabian Whitman said, referring to one of the most dominating teams in girls state cross country history. “So that gives us something to shoot for this year.”
Two of the top seven runners return from last season. They are senior Kat Stultz and junior Abbie Marquard.
Up-and-coming runners are seniors Laura Hogan and Courtney Kishbaugh, junior Bridgette Coyne, and sophomores Katie Kerr, Macie Walker and Shannon Sullivan.
Arabian Whitman said a positive aspect is that some members of this season’s team have been a part of the previous squads that experienced such success.
“The older girls (who have graduated) set a wonderful example,” she said. “The girls this season will put forth their best effort to keep that tradition going.
“These girls are very hard workers,” she said. “They’re willing to make sacrifices to advance themselves. We have a good formula for training, and they buy into it. Good team chemistry helps, too. The girls are very invested in their team.”
Magnificat was scheduled to open its season Aug. 28 at Canton GlenOak.
Magnificat’s assistant coaches are Kathy Manning, who is in her ninth season with Arabian Whitman, and new coach Carrie Nicklas, a former Magnificat runner.
“The girls have been working hard,” Arabian Whitman said. “If the girls put everything they can into it, we’ll be proud of them. I’m excited for them. We’ll see how things work out.”
Watertown is a freelance writer.