Our two most important competitive goals each season are to be at our best for the Conference and State Championships. While the varsity team is our primary emphasis, something we take great pride in at HC is successful development at all three levels. This is one of the foundations of our team philosophy. One of our goals this year was to win the Conference at all three levels, something that had never been done since the Conference went to three championship races for the girls in the 1990’s. After the dual meet season, we had records of 6-0 (Varsity), 6-0 (F/S) and 5-1 (JV). We knew that if we won the races at the Conference meet, we would be outright champions at all three levels. The girls stepped up and continued our tradition of running well when it counts the most. The result: Outright Conference Championships at all three levels!
The varsity girls won the Conference Championships outright and have now won or shared the title for the past four years. This year’s race was a little too close for comfort, as we tied York 53-53 and won the race based on our 6th finisher, Megan Gleason, finishing ahead of York’s 6th runner. The race was much closer than it should have been, as Jenny Laser was very sick and struggled as our 5th runner, finishing in 26th place. While it was far from her normal effort, Jenny did the very best she could do on that day for the team and it was enough to get the job done. That’s the kind of effort we get from Jenny every time she steps on the course. Our first 4 runners all ran outstanding races, finishing in the Top 10 and being honored as All-Conference athletes. Roey Hines, Ashley Soltwisch, Lauren Zumbach and Gina Kapusta finished 4,6,7 and 10 respectively with 3 mile equivalent times of 18:26, 18:34, 18:36 and 18:41. Great performances all around! Emily Kane, also battling illness, rounded out the top 7 in 33rd place.
On the F/S level, the women of HC dominated the race, placing 5 runners in the top 6 overall and defeating LT 17-53. The F/S won the title for 3rd time in the last 4 years. Emily Cleary ran her first race of the season, winning the Conference Championship and finishing just ahead of Heather Stevens. Holly Larsen, Elaine Kuckertz and Niamh McCarthy, also running a particularly gutsy race with a hip injury, finished close behind in 3rd, 5th and 6th. In addition to their high places, the girls ran outstanding 3 mile equivalent times of 19:12, 19:19, 20:03, 20:10 and 20:13 respectively. Our Top 5 all were recognized as All-Conference athletes. Victoria Glatz, Margaret Cavenagh and Catherine Bruns all ran strong races as our 6th-8th runners. There were fast races and PR’s from top to bottom for our F/S girls and that is what we always hope for in the final race of the season.
After the dual meet season we were tied with LT and York, which meant that the meet winner would be the outright Conference Champion. We had our JV lineup fully loaded for the first time all season and our girls were ready to show ‘JV Domination’. We got out aggressively but under control and moved up throughout the race. In the end, we edged LT 27-33 for the win for our 2nd outright JV title in a row. Kristina Truedson led the way for HC, finishing in 2nd place overall. She was followed closely in 3rd, 4th and 5th by Sarah Vachlon, Jennie Kuckertz and Jenny Douglas. Molly Doyle was our important 5th scorer in 13th place and these first five finishers were named All-Conference. The JV girls ran 3 mile equivalent times of 19:42, 19:47, 19:48, 20:01 and 20:29. Roshni Patel, Grace Pedersen, Kristie Louderman, Madeleine Hines and Jackie Cherkas were close behind and all ran great races. Stephanie Perez and Vicky Victorenko also closed out their senior years with their best races of the year and that was so exciting to watch.
This week is the Regional Meet, which we will be hosting at KLM on Saturday, October 22. The girls race will go off at 10:15 am and the boys at 11:00. The regional is the first step in the state series, to be followed by Sectionals and State. The first five teams move on to the Sectional next week at Bremen High School, along with the top five individuals not a part of those first five teams. Come out and support the Red Devils on our home course as we continue on the road to the State Meet.
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