Veteran LT Girls CC Lineup Has Big State Goals Under New Coach

LYONS TOWNSHIP GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEW

COACH: Stetson Steele (1st season)

2010 RESULTS: Fourth at West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet (91 points) and fourth in overall standings; fourth at LT Regional (95 points); third at Lockport Sectional (112 points); 17th at Class 3A state meet (430 points)

RETURNING 2010 STATE COMPETITORS: Senior Alex Daemicke (110th place), junior Haley Prokaski (111th), senior Juliet Lusson (138th), junior Randie Speir (141st), sophomore Sarah Drew (150th) and junior Rachel Walsh (167th)

OTHER VARSITY RETURNEES: Seniors Lisa Gordon, Claire Johnson, Kelsey Morgan and Kim Sipek; junior MaryClare Flaherty; and sopohmore Lexy Rudofski

VARSITY NEWCOMERS: Juniors Ellie Borgstrom and Hannah Saggau; and freshmen Lindsey Allen and Grace Gumbiner

OUTLOOK: New head coach Steele, in his fourth year with the program, brings plenty of enthusiasm, but even that is eclipsed by the determination of a strong and seasoned group.

There are six returnees from the 2010 state lineup, two others who have state experience and other team veterans coming off breakthrough seasons in track. 

Qualifying for state has become a way of life for the Lions. Last year was their 12th consecutive berth. Still, there was a slightly bitter taste since a hip injury kept frontrunner and all-state contender Gordon from competing in the postseason. LT ended up 17th after four consecutive top-10 finishes, including second place in 2007.

LT is No. 17 in the Class 3A pre-season rankings by DyeStat Illinois. The season begins with the 31st annual Lions Pride Invitational Saturday in Western Springs.

“They’re motivated. They believe and I, too, believe we do have a top cross country program. We want to get back towards the top of the food chain in Illinois,” Steele said.

“It takes hard work and commitment and I think that’s what I’ve seen here more than in the past. I think they have a bond and want to do well, and part of that bond comes from how they finished last year.”

Lusson has the chance to become only the fifth LT runner to compete at state four times after the feat was accomplished last year by graduated Carly Rocco, the team’s No. 1 finisher at state last year (57th). Speir has run at state the past two seasons. Daemicke, Prokaski, Drew and Walsh made their state debuts last year, and Morgan and Rudofski were among the team’s state alternates.

Gordon could have run at state three times but besides last year, hip problems forced to be a late scratch in 2008 with Rocco taking her spot. Lusson was the team’s No. 3 finisher that year (79th) as LT placed eighth.

In her lone state appearance in 2009, Gordon was a team-best 46th. Speir (86th) and Lusson (96th) the No. 4-5 finishers and Flaherty was the No. 6 finisher (127th) as LT was 10th.

Healthy once again, Gordon will try to become just the seventh LT runner to earn all-state honors with a top-25 state finish. In track, she has two all-state medals for top-nine state finishes in 2009 (5th with 3,200-meter relay) and 2008 (8th in 3,200).

Steele said Gordon’s willingness to pace teammates during the intrasquad race Aug. 20 made it that much more beneficial.  

“The thing about Lisa is she’s a great leader. She leads in a lot of ways that she doesn’t know that she does,” Steele said. “It’s hard to believe that she’s a senior but I hope health and mental wise we can make it her best year in cross country and track.”

Steele knows the athletes well not only as a former assistant coach but also as an assistant coach in girls track, working primarily with the distance runners the past six-to-seven years. A teacher at Highlands Middle School, Steele grew up in Michigan and ran cross country and track for the University of Iowa.

Steele replaces Julie Metz, who was head coach the past nine seasons. Assistants Greg Frandsen and Luke Taylor also return with new assistants Erin Kapolnek and Jim Mshar, a LT boys cross country assistant coach five years ago. There are roughly 185 girls on this year’s mammoth roster.

“I’ve told the girls we can have one of the biggest teams in Illinois but also one of the better teams and it’ll happen not just because of the top girl but everyone buying in and working hard,” Steele said.

“(Metz) sat down with me and gave me all of the files. Organization-wise, she put me in a great spot. Two hours (at practice) is the easiest part. It’s doing the paperwork and behind-the-scenes stuff. But I love it and I’m looking forward to the new opportunities and new challenges.”

The track season unveiled several more candidates for the lineup. Flaherty worked her way back after she missed most of the 2010 cross country season with a broken foot suffered in early August. Johnson helped LT’s 3,200 relay reach the state finals and take 11th. Sipek also is coming on strong as a senior, finishing among the top five at the intrasquad race.

“The thing I’m excited about is I think a lot of kids are interchangeable. It’ll be a nice problem to have,” Steele said.

In the Silver, the Lions will have to contend with four teams currently ranked ahead of them by DyeStat Illinois – No. 7 Glenbard West, No. 8 Downers Grove North, No. 9 York and No. 13 Hinsdale Central.

At last year’s Silver Meet, Daemicke, Prokaski and Lusson were 18th, 19th and 20th, just missing all-conference honors for top-16 finishers. Walsh (4th), Rudofski (6th) and Flaherty (11th) were all-conference on the sophomore level, and Morgan (12th) and Sipek (13th) were among LT’s eight all-conference finishers on the junior varsity level.

QUOTABLE: “Two things have been very encouraging for me. We’ve started incorporating more long runs, and the girls responded to those great. We had kids running five, six miles who had never run more than three miles,” Steele said. “And it’s a senior-led team and I think they’re very excited about the prospects of what they can accomplish as a group so that makes me excited about what they want to do.”

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