Rocky River’s girls squad, including Elyse Bierut, is looking to repeat its West Shore Conference title and improve on their finish at last year’s Division II state meet. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

River girls step up for 2010
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published Aug. 18, 2010

As the 2010 girls cross country season approaches, there are a number of questions that will be answered in the weeks ahead.

Will defending Division I state champion Magnificat have to rebuild, or simply reload?

Is the young, talented group of runners at Rocky River ready to improve on their 11th-place Division II state finish of a year ago?

Are the Bay Rockets ready to make a run behind state qualifier Hanna Sterle?

And can either Westlake, North Olmsted or Olmsted Falls make their presence felt in the Southwestern Conference?

“We’ve got a solid core of girls who are fired up and ready to go,” said Rocky River head coach Laura Brabant as she begins her 13th season leading the program.

“They’re excited. I think they had a good, strong training season this summer,” Brabant said. “They trained hard, but they trained smart as well. We feel like we had a pretty good team last year, but I think we’ll be that much stronger this season.”

Brabant’s optimism is well-founded, considering most of her top runners are just entering their junior seasons. And Madi Connelly, who had the team’s best showing in Columbus last fall, is only a sophomore.

Connelly took 41st last year at state with a time of 20:14.56. Right behind her in 44th was Maddy McDonough, a member of that junior group who clocked in last year at 20:16.32. Also back after successful cross country and track seasons last year are Elyse Bierut, Megan Auzenbergs and Megan O’Keefe.

But the youth movement hasn’t completely run its course yet for the Pirates. Sophomore Anna Eversman has joined the team this season, as has freshman Ellen Corcoran. There are also nine seniors on the 23-member team, led by co-captains Jane Swartz and Jen Pease.

“Ultimately, our goal is to get back to Columbus and improve on our finish from last year,” Brabant said. “We‘ve been invited to a number of Division I invitationals, like Earlybird and Strongsville, so that will help us put our best foot forward.”

While River will be looked at as the favorite to win the West Shore Conference, Brabant said Bay could be a team to look out for. “I think they’re showing a lot of promise,” she said of the Rockets, who are coached by two of her former runners, Danielle Harkins and Anne Ashley.

Bay junior Hanna Sterle will look to defend her West Shore Conference title and make a return trip to the Division II state meet in Columbus. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Sterle, a junior, returns at the top of the Bay lineup after winning titles in the WSC and district meets. Behind Sterle, there are three experienced seniors in Megan Mohney, Samm Sanson and Lindsay Stranahan.

There is plenty of competition for spots after that with 38 girls gracing the team roster, according to Harkins.

“We’ve got a lot of competition and a lot of depth,” Harkins said. “Once you get past our returning runners, there’s going to be a whole group of them fighting for spots.”

The depth was bolstered with the addition of sophomore Maggie Harter, who transferred to Bay from St. Joseph Academy. Also, Harkins and Ashley have welcomed 13 freshmen into the program.

“We’re looking good, and we’re really excited about the season,” Harkins said. “I think we’ll be up there with River and Avon. It should be a good fight to see who can come out on top. I think we might be able to make a run at it this season. It’ll be close.”

In their last season in the WSC, Fairview will look for continued improvement this fall, according to veteran coach Rich Friel.

“Our girls are young, but they’re looking to better themselves this season,” said Friel, who will be without senior Kayla Kazanowski due to an injury. “The team has a core of motivated runners who want to improve not only the team’s finish, but their own personal goals as well.”

Returning letter winners for the Warriors are senior captain Amanda Larsen, junior Julia Lachowski and sophomore Taylor McCluskey. Rounding out the squad are senior Claudia Taylor, junior Molly Rehor and freshmen Emma McQuate and Shannon Kilbane.

Back out in Rocky River, cross country fans will have their eyes on Magnificat, which lost five seniors from last year’s state title team. Madeline Chambers, Abby and Clare Fischer, Erin Riley and Mary Whitmore have moved on and are now running in Division I collegiate programs.

But the cupboard isn’t bare, and some young guns are ready to step in and prove themselves, according to Blue Streaks head coach Anjanette Arabian Whitman.

“Our goal is to continue to be very competitive,” Arabian Whitman said last Friday. “That’s our goal going into it. We had a very good practice today with our theoretical top seven-eight runners looking good so far.

“Yes, we have a lot of fresh faces this season,” she said. “They’ve trained hard all summer and have the whole season to bring it together. It’s an interesting mix of runners with a really strong sophomore class.”

Magnificat’s Kat Stultz, shown here running in last week’s Classic at Mastick, will join Abbie Marquard as the only two runners returning from the Blue Streaks’ state championship squad. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Two members of last year’s team, senior Kat Stultz and junior Abbie Marquard, return to anchor this year’s team. Two seniors, Laura Hogan and Courtney Kishbaugh, have come up from the junior varsity, while sophomores Macey Walker and Katherine Kerr will look to step up and make an impact.

In the SWC, Westlake has one of its biggest and deepest teams in over a decade, according to Demons head coach Travis Haselswerdt.

“It’s also one of our youngest with just two seniors on the team,” Haselswerdt said. “Overall, we’ve made a conscious effort to increase our mileage significantly from the past few seasons. So far, the girls seem to be buying into that.

“If we can stay healthy, we should be a much-improved team that could challenge for a regional spot,” he added.

Those two seniors, Alesha Beverly and Katherine Beaton, were both honorable mention SWC last year and will be the team’s co-captains. The team’s top runner and team MVP, sophomore Liz Kobe, returns along with junior Megan Duffy and sophomores Jacky Gardner and Brittany Antognazzi.

In addition, sophomore Bridget Smik is making the transition from soccer to cross country while freshman Grace Jenkins is expected to be a strong contender for the team’s top spot, according to Haselswerdt.

At North Olmsted, head coach Lisa Pochatek begins her eighth season with five returning letter winners. That group will be led by sophomore Haley Reines, the team’s top runner from last season. Also back are seniors Melanie Trefny and Holly Veverka, along with sophomores Becky Szabo and Amy Veverka.

“There is no doubt that Haley will continue as our lead runner,” Pochatek said. “She was our number one runner for every meet last year as a freshman, and she earned a spot as the sixth all-time fastest 5K runner in the history of the program.”

Lutheran West has four letter winners back, including its number one runner in senior Amber Voytovich. Senior Kaity Backa is back, along with juniors Jackie Culley and Shelby Drazen. Culley was the Longhorns’ third runner last year.

“With only two runners back from our top five of last year, we’re counting on our newcomers to make an instant impact,” head coach Mark Fenske said. “Fortunately, I feel we have some newcomers who can get that done for us.”

Freshman Olivia Vasiloff will look to make an immediate impact on the Lutheran West race-day lineup, as will former soccer player Michelle Britton. Freshmen Larissa Reeves and Jenna Voight will be contenders to crack the lineup as well, according to Fenske.