The girls cross country team finished their first season under new head coach Isaac Seals, who took over midseason. The team placed third in the APS City Championship on Sept. 30 and 10th at State on Nov. 7.
“I knew we had a pretty good team,” Seals said. “Going into the State meet we were ranked 11th, but we ended up placing 10th so I was very happy about that.”
At the State Championship, the Knights were led by freshman Lia Sinitiere, who placed 24th with a time of 20:46, and junior James Roberts who placed 26th with a time of 20:54.
“I’m very grateful to be the top runner for Midtown, and I’m very proud of how the team raced at State and throughout the entire season,” Sinitiere said. “I think this final meet was a wonderful reflection of all the hard work we have put in together.”
With Seals coming in the middle of the season, he said he found it challenging to keep track of their progress. However, since he has been with the team, he has noticed their times are dropping.
“I didn’t have a mark to judge them by because I didn’t know where they were in the beginning, but I’ve watched that they’re starting to lower their time,” Seals said. “They are beginning to see [that when] you switch coaches in the beginning of the season, you have to get used to your new coach.”
Despite these challenges, Roberts said the team supported each other during the transition and made the mental aspect of it easier.
“I definitely was a bit wary at first, but I was just trusting in the training and that’s like half of the battle,” Roberts said. “The physical aspect is not all that running is, it’s a lot of mental stuff. Having to trust the process was a bit of an adjustment but the team stuck together through it.”
Roberts said the team overcame the changes by concentrating on the season ahead.
“We got pretty fortunate and we got a really good coach, but I think a lot of people were definitely scared,” Roberts said. ”We kind of worked through it by just continuing to focus on what we can control and moving on.”
Roberts describes the environment Seals has built for the team through the duration of the season.
“Coach Seals definitely brought a different energy to the team,” Roberts said. “His energy is just a lot more calm and supportive. [He created] a supportive and welcoming environment for all runners of all scale levels.”
Sinitiere said Seals has helped the team develop a support system for each other by leading by example.
“He talked to me one on one and gave me good advice that is really inspiring,” Sinitiere said. “I think our team has really learned from that and we began to implement it on our own when talking with each other.”
Roberts described this support and said the team encouraged each other to keep looking forward.
“We just kept everything kind of light and moved on when you have a bad performance because every course in cross country is different and they’re suited differently to different people,” Roberts said. “So it’s just important to take each race as it comes and then move on even if the result is good or if the result is bad, just keep working and keep staying hungry.”
At the Asics Invitational on Oct. 4, 9 runners PRed—freshmen Sinitiere with a time of 19:36, Catherine Eason with a time of 20:46, Maya Griggs with a time of 22:30, Myna Welsh with a time of 22:37, Petal Williams with a time of 23:25, Julie Oliver-de Rosset with a time of 25:46, sophomores Harper Key with a time of 21:41, Lark McCormack with a time of 23:40 and Fiona Handley with a time of 25:13.
“So many of our kids ran personal records, and for those who didn’t, they may have just run a course record as well,” Seals said.
Sinitiere also led the team in the APS City Championship, placing fourth with a time of 20:42. Seven runners placed in the top 25 at the APS City Championship, five of which were freshmen.
“We’re a very freshmen dominated team,” Roberts said. “I think they’ve definitely gotten a lot more confident and just really blossomed into their new roles on the team.”
Seals believes the freshmen will point the girls cross country program to a bright future.
“These freshmen show an awful lot of promise for the future,” Seals said. “Midtown will have a very powerful girls cross country team for years to come.”
With a goal of winning the APS City Championship next season, Roberts has hopes that the team can also place top three at State.
“Our biggest goal will be winning the APS championship [next year],” Roberts said. “And I want us to podium at state. It’s gonna be my senior year, but I also think we can do it. We have even more promising young talent coming up. We have another couple of 8th graders who are looking like they’re going to be something. So, I think that next year will be the year to do it.”
