Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Young Brentsville boys team sets out to defend state title
After four straight state titles, the Brentsville District boys cross country team has fallen in the pre-season charts to sixth place.In the Northwestern District.
Such a ranking would not even allow the 2008 Tiger team to advance on to the Region II title match, let alone compete against the likes of Western Albermarle and Jamestown in the state championship.
So what gives?
Well, milestat.com last year underrated Brentsville, pegging the team at No. 7 in the pre-season, though the Tigers ended up sweeping through districts, regions and states en route to a sixth-place finish at the southeast regional meet.
But at the time, the varsity squad was loaded with experience, as six out of seven runners were seniors.
“When we were ranked No. 7, we knew what we had. We knew we were a contender in the state,” said head coach Rob Dulin.
The only member of that state-winning squad to return this year is rising-senior Grant Burress.
Dulin admits Brentsville beat better teams last year and captured states simply due to the willpower of the seniors, who had known nothing but victory at the state level since they were freshmen.
“The reason that they won the state title last year was because they thought they were supposed to do it,” noted the coach.
This year, Dulin would be thrilled if his sophomore-heavy team made it in the top three.
“It’s going to be a challenge for them because next year, when those guys are juniors, they’re going to be a very formidable squad,” he said. “They’re going to be much faster than they are now. It’s just a developmental process. A distance runner takes 12 to 18 months of consistent running for them to figure out what they can do.”
Either the 17-year coach is a realist or he’s keeping expectations low.
“I don’t think we have a chance of taking this thing. I think we have a chance of getting to the podium,” he said.
Talk to the upperclassmen though, and it’s a different story.
“They still have a lot of high hopes of winning the state title, so if they work hard, maybe we can repeat it again,” said Burress of his younger teammates.
Burress is joined this year in the top seven by Chris Cunningham, Trevor Deligne, Matt Earman, Andrew Hull, Zach Morrow and Adam Wojtysiak. Nick Allen, Jared Broemmel, Tyler Eliason, Aaron McMullen and Josh Wojtysiak are also listed on Brentsville’s top training team.
According to McMullen, Brentsville needs to keep a positive mindset in order to be competitive.
“We can’t come back just because we lost a couple guys and say, ‘No, we’re not going to shoot to win the state title,’” said the 17-year-old senior. “We’re always in it to win it; it doesn’t matter.”
Dulin and the seniors alike expect big things in the future out of their current crop of sophomores like Earman, Hull, Morrow and Cunningham and freshman Deligne.
However, it will be up to those underclassmen to determine whether they are going to surprise the running world with a strong showing this year or, as expected, mature this season without taking many wins and become a dominant force as upperclassmen in 2009.
“We have a race the first weekend of school. I’m not expecting to go out and win that race and destroy every team out there,” said Burress. “But as the season goes on along, we should progress, and the guys will grow into better runners. And by the end of post-season, that’s when they should be their strongest in the season. Hopefully, that leads us [through] the post-season.”
There are other runners for the Brentsville boys who have tasted victory at the state level before, though, like senior Tony Harris. His 4x400-meter relay team captured the Group AA title in outdoor track in his junior season, and he is considered another one of Dulin’s top prospects.
“It’s just control and not sprinting out the gates,” said Harris about the key to running a good cross country race. “It’s the end of the race, not the beginning.”
Despite their low ranking, when asked whether the team goal is to simply qualify for regions by being in the top four at districts or to win the Northwestern District title, Burress, McMullen and Harris almost simultaneously replied, “Win.”
In order for that to happen, Harris wants the younger runners to complete each race with toughness.
“Keep pushing through the pain. Most of it’s mental,” said Harris. “There’s going to be a lot of setbacks during the season, I’m sure, but getting through those makes us stronger.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.