In about one minute I need to sum up several years’ worth of success. When I coached this extraordinary group of women I assumed that everyone else was like they were: committed, competitive, disciplined, well-rounded, talented, tight-knit, often brilliant. I assumed that every group would produce extraordinary leaders like we had, whose willingness to work and reach in search of a goal would inspire their teammates to work and reach with them. I assumed that every coaching staff put in the time, thought, and effort that ours did, that everyone knew as much about running, nutrition, teamwork as our staff did and that they were as committed to the goal as ours was. I thought that every group of parents and every Boosters club cared as much as ours did and functioned as flawlessly as ours did. That was not the case; this group was extraordinary in every way. Over the four-year period between 2007-2010, they won three AAA state championships and were runner-up another time by a mere 8 points. During that span they scored a total of 247 points at the AAA state meet, an average of 62 per year. They took home trophies from Great American, Jesse Owens, McCallie, and Maymont. Many of them went on to NCAA and NAIA running careers. They were really good. The young women who made up those teams have gone on to become lawyers, teachers, accountants, photographers, pilots, physical therapists, dentists, businesswomen. The seeds of their adult lives were there even then—it’s no surprise that they have grown up to persevere and to win in their adult lives. That’s who they always were, and it was revealed in their approach to cross country: they demanded excellence from themselves and were not satisfied with less. I keep thinking the same thing as I look around the room and see young athletes who in 15 years no doubt will be adults receiving this same honor: what you’re doing now matters, it’s important not only because of the great memories you’ll get to keep forever, but also because running on a cross country team both reveals and sharpens your best attributes, as it did for these women more than fifteen years ago. It’s why we do interscholastic athletics. I’m so fortunate to have been their coach, and I am so proud of them both then and now. Congratulations to

Dierdre Brockwell

Leah Chance

Adrian Etheridge

Autumn Gipson

Lauren Irby

Whitney Irby

Leslie Jenkins

Melanie Kulesz

Corinne Lariviere

Allison Miles

Katie Ostrouchov

Jessica Palmer

Natalie Stixrud

Becca Therrien

Allison Toth

Mariah Zawisza

by Coach Allen Etheridge