Published: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 / Updated: Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009 03:50 PM
From worst to first | Indian land captures 1st cross country crown in years
INDIAN LAND --
The cross country team at Indian Land is young, gifted and determination and has two strong coaches. There's something else the team has now, too – the Region 1-A championship.
The Warriors, the doormat of the Region for the last several seasons, are rejuvenated, focused and extremely talented.
Led by second year Head Coach Sara Allen and Assistant Coach Ray Allmendinger, Indian Land has restored passion for a program that lacked it in the past. That passion, coupled with the emergence of several key runners, has turned around a team that was headed in the wrong direction.
“The kids love her,” Allmendinger said of Allen. “She is learning so much and we work well together and really feed off of each other's drive and enthusiasm.”
Allmendinger, who was a nationally ranked runner in high school and who ran in college, sees a little of himself in a Warriors team that has become a power in just one year.
The boys are led by junior John Cutrone, seventh grader Leith Rawson, freshman James Gregory and senior Justin Pickard. Cutrone finished second at the region meet and was followed closely by Rawson (third), Gregory (fourth) and Pickard (sixth). Eighth grader Matthew Hajek, who was the fifth place runner in the Region meet after being the eighth runner on the team for most of the year, was the key to last week's championship.
“Everybody has worked hard and gotten better throughout the season,” Allmendinger said. “We are excited that we have only one senior boy and so many good underclassmen. Rawson can be very special if he continues to work at the pace that he is and we probably wouldn't have won regions without Hajek; he really stepped up when we needed him.”
On the girls side, the Warriors are equally young and talented. Led by freshman Courtney Whitten, the region runner of the year and the first place finisher in the Region meet, Indian Land is on track to be good for a long time.
Joining Whitten is senior Angela Carter, who finished third in the Region, and sophomore Marie Tumanice, who placed fifth. Together, they make up the core of the team. Kaitlin Lufk ran as the second runner on the team for much of the season, but was injured and had to miss the Region meet.
On the way to capturing the title, the Warriors defeated Chesterfield, a team that has been at the top of the standings for the last five years.
“After three weeks of training, we sat the kids on the bleachers and asked them who felt stronger,” Allmendinger said. “They all raised their hands, sort of looked at each other and realized that we were getting better every day. The results are showing.”
The real test for the Warriors comes Saturday, when they head to Columbia to compete in the Upper State Meet. Allmendinger expects the team's cohesiveness to serve them well.
“Their desire is stronger; they are better and work together as a team,” Allmendinger said. “They are one team and they feel the connection and see the improvement every day. We have the core group who will continue to improve and we are excited to see what we can do in the state meet and in the coming years.”
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