Coming off their win at the State Championships last year the Girl’s cross country team will accept no less than another state title this year.
Their expectations are entirely realistic when you consider they only lost one runner from last year’s team and gained a dominating talent in transfer student Jenny Morgan.
‘We want to have one of the top five fastest teams in state history,? Coach Jamie Labrosse said.
Also in the team’s sights this year is the newly created Nike Team Nationals being held in Portland OR. Winning that meet will mean the Wolves would be the top girl’s cross country team in the land. Currently Clarkston is ranked third in the nation and number one in the midwest.
‘We work together in races and that just makes such a difference,? Morgan said.
The reason for their lofty ranking is simple, the team is winning. On Saturday Sept. 11, Clarkston won the Midwest Meet of Champions in Hilliard OH, which featured top tier programs from all around. Morgan finished first overall with a time of 17:54. Liz Mengyan came in third at the MMC with a time of 18:28.
‘We have a great coach and a great team,? Mengyan said.
More recently on Friday Sept. 17 the girl’s cross country left the competition in the dust winning the Spartan Invitational in Lansing. The Wolves, as a team, finished nearly four minutes ahead of their closest competition. Morgan and Mengyan, who Labrosse refers to as his ‘M&M girls? finished one and two in the race. Anne Oltman finished ninth and Lyndsay Smith finished 11th at the Invitational.
‘I’m in awe of them, they are just taking it to such a high level,? said Athletic Director Dan Fife.
The varsity team is filled out by Gillian Nordquist, Jenna Leach and Beth Hoekstra all of whom finished in the top 50 in the Lansing Invitational.
‘Nobody on our team likes to get beat, even by their own teammates,? Labrosse said. ‘I stress competition even in practice, it makes them better.?
While the girls are spurred on by each other their tireless dedication to their training has rubbed off on some of the other teams at CHS.
‘They see that we’ve done so well and they have all started to work harder,? Oltman said.
Oltman’s statements were expounded upon by Fife who said that the team has a mental toughness that separates them from other athletes.
The training and commitment the varsity has ridden to success has carried over to the JV squad. The JV has ran and won against other school’s varsity teams this year.
‘Most schools are not able to do that, but I need to because my kids are so good,? Labrosse said.
This team is as close knit as one will find and their attitude is refreshingly positive. They wake up at 5 am to run, run on the weekends, skip going out with their friends to run and work out twice on the developmental days and they seem to enjoy it all.
‘You might of had a horrible day but when you see your teammates smiling faces everything is okay,? Oltman said.