A Magnificent Seven - 2018 Lady Raiders Cross Country Team

2018 Lady Raiders XC: A Magnificent Seven

Four Digits:

2-0-1-8 are four seemingly inconsequential digits.  On a calendar or a stat sheet, four digits simply represent a year.  If you happen to look up the next time you are in the Riverview High School gym, you will see many banners with a bunch of four-digit sets representing years.  However, as these words are being typed a couple of banners are missing. No! The banners were not stolen! They were in need of being updated. One of those banners represents the most storied sports team in school history.  Sorry boys, we will get to you later. First, let us celebrate a tiny contingent of young ladies from our “tiny” Riverview.

Hooray for Izzy, Mere, Marina, Mikaela, Gillian, Ally and Hann!

These seven women beat the odds, as calculated by a certain master of prognostication, and a whole host of opponents, as they ran, in magnificent fashion, all the way into the record books and our hearts.

Section Perfection:

Izzy Komaniak and Meredith Kocur captained the 2018 team and instilled a feeling of belief in their younger teammates.  These two seniors placed among the top finishers in the early going section meets as their younger teammates battled to overcome injuries and high-pollen counts.  The section competition may have begun with lesser opponents, but the times posted by the Raiders at their splendid new home course at Oakmont East announced to Section IV that a force may be gathering some momentum.  The wins continued adding up as the ladies easily dispatched their foes at Geibel.

Next up was their first real test against Shady Side Academy.  The forecast and the course conditions put the event in doubt, but the weather held off enough to hold the race.  Their mothers must be mudders because they were undaunted by the soggy conditions, cruising to another double-dual victory over Shady Side and Deer Lakes.  One more race separated the girls from a section title, but Double-A powers Freeport and Knoch might have something to say about banner raising ceremonies.

Race day weather predictions were calling for a possible tornado in southern Butler County. That forecast was only a slightly less gloomy outlook than what was being predicted by a certain someone.  

“I give them about a 30% chance of winning tomorrow,” the lesser half of the coaching duo known as the “Coaches O” predicted at the Sacred Dinner the previous night.   Coach Bobby can always be counted on to deliver a dose of reality for what awaits his runners at a race.  Thankfully, Coach Palma was there as she always is, to provide all the positive energy any racer can ever need to perform at her best.

Maybe the weather was a blessing in disguise.  With the delayed start, under-the-weather Captain Izzy could maybe, just maybe, rebound enough to help her squad.  It might have been advisable for her to sit this race out. During training, the Coaches O had labeled Izzy, Mere, Mikaela Collins and Marina Pietz the “4-pack” and Gillian Gaynor, Ally Johnson and Hann Morrissey the “3-pack.”   Having a friend and teammate with you each step of the journey can help to pull you along to times you might otherwise not attain.  These girls pulled each other along as they pushed themselves at each and every practice and race, but would it be enough?

In stepped Mere to pick the squad up in a most unusual fashion.   Race starts are an adrenalin-filled few moments that help a runner get into the flow, but the cheering crowds which only number in the dozens for a section race, cannot really sustain a runner.  After that initial surge, you settle in to the rhythm and pain of a trying to maintain race pace. It was at this point that Meredith broke into song.  Yes, song! Talk about mind games.  Who were these Raider lunatics? How could they not be tired? Where could they possibly have the energy to sing in the middle of a race? While the competition was huffing and puffing through the sloggy conditions, these calm cool Raiders started catching a runner here and a runner there while enjoying the dulcet tones of their captain.  

Marina was hot on the heels of two 1st team Alle-Kiski All Stars from Knoch and Shady Side as they disappeared off into the woods of the Knoch course.  Others in the 4-pack were only a step behind in their own personal battles with opponents from Knoch. Freeport was clearly out of the completion. It was now a 2-horse race.  What were the odds now, Bobby? 50%? 60%?

As they returned back out of the woods and into the final half mile, Marina had a firm grip on 3rd, but the Shady Side runner didn’t count in the head-to-head battle with Knoch.  Riverview’s top All-Star missed first team by one place, but she delivered on this day.   In what would prove to be her 2018 PR performance, Mikaela delivered a run her team desperately needed this day. Boosting the team’s hopes with a powerful finishing kick that propelled her to a 4th place finish. Meredith not only sang well, she ran well by posting her season’s best time to secure 6th place.  

With three runners in from each team, Riverview held a 10 to 11 point edge.  With the top virtually canceling each other out, this race was going to be won by the 4th and 5th runners.

In her three previous seasons, Izzy showed she was an elite runner in the WPIAL, posting State qualifying times each year and winning 2 individual medals.  Beset by injuries, Izzy never approached a PR in 2018. But this season, and especially this race, was not about personal victories.  Toss in the fact she was also battling a bug, Izzy had no business finishing ahead of most of the Knoch and Freeport runners, but that is exactly what she did.  In what would prove to be her last GREAT high school performance this champion showed she is an elite teammate, gutting out a 7th place finish through sheer will.

Inspired by song and by heart, the other Raiders posted their strongest times to date.  Ally out leaned a Shady Side runner to secure the final scoring place for the Raiders.  This section title was a complete team effort as both Hann and Gillian finished ahead of multiple runners from Knoch, Shady Side, Freeport, and Southmoreland, pushing those teams even further back in the placements.

These ladies did it!  With the heart of a champion, they accomplished what many thought was impossible.  No! Not the section championship. Palma believed in them the whole way.
The real miracle that day was that these ladies cracked the iron facade of Coach Bobby, bringing tears to his eyes.   

Freedom and WPIALS

Oh yeah.  A few more races remained on the schedule, including the Freedom Invitational and a little race nicknamed “whips.”

The Raiders depressurized from their section chase by topping a dozen other schools, as they secured a third place finish at Brush Creek.

It was not quite déjà vu a few weeks after the Knoch race, but WPIAL Championships had some echoes of the section chase:

• Bobby runs the numbers
• His Conclusion: with four teams qualifying, maybe, just maybe the girls can get 4th. Maybe 8th?  Maybe somewhere in between?  Slightly higher than 30%? I don’t recall. I’m not so good with the numbers.
• Some members of the 3-pack and 4-pack were showing improvement, but just how much upside remained for Ally, Gillian and Hann?  After a tough season, what did Mikaela and Mere and Izzy have left?
• In 2017, Marina posted a solid time at Freedom and then shocked many with her qualifying time at WPIALs. Was this year’s medal-winning effort at Brush Creek a portend of another WPIAL qualifying run?  She was likely the best chance for a girl to represent the school at States.

WPIALS provides its own unique pressure.  Hershey is at stake when toeing the starting line along with the runners representing schools from the largest single-A Pennsylvania district.   Unrestricted by boundaries, private and parochial schools dominate this level of running across the State and especially in the WPIAL. In 2017, the top 3 spots were occupied by private schools.  The 2018 race results would again see 5 of the top 7 spots representing non-boundary schools. How could tiny Riverview compete?

On arguably the toughest course they ran all season, Marina, Ally, Hann and Gillian all posted season best times!  But those PRs wouldn’t be enough, would they?  It wasn’t looking good on the hill as some Raiders fought back tears and  even resorted to some walking … “walking very fast and with very long strides can be faster!”  Right Mere?   Tears … and not Bobby’s this time and Walking … would it be enough?  

Marina proved 2017 was not a fluke as she even threatened for a medal.  In 2011, her 17th place would have won her hardware, unfortunately the WPIAL is a bit too frugal to recognize a top-20 performance in a field of over 150 athletes.   At least we had one girl locked in for a States berth.

Marina would not be alone in the qualifying positions.  While many labored on the Cali-Monster Hill, Ally seemed to float from one blade of grass to the next. 20 individuals not part of a qualifying team would earn a State berth and Ally’s PR performance and 31st place finish secured her trip to Chocolate Town. But would it just be a duo headed to Hershey?  

Marina separated herself as the top of the 4-pack and a 100% recovered Ally showed what she can do when the pollen count is manageable, but more finishers were needed.  The pack mentality prevailed despite a change in the group makeup as Mikaela and Hann pushed each other to a solid showing, finishing in back-to-back fashion with Meredith close behind.  This new fangled three-pack all finished right around 50th, would it be enough?
A surprise Eden Christian team fielded two individual qualifiers. Our Lady of Sacred Heart had a top-10 runner, would they edge out the Raiders again?   What about Shenango with 3 in the top 30? Nails were being bitten. Coach Barb Stuart and Bobby were frantically crunching the numbers. It looked possible. Or did it? Why the delay? When are they posting the results?

Agonizingly long minutes ticked by  as the race officials checked and rechecked the video and timing results.  Palma was handing out hugs and smiles, praising the tremendous effort these athletes put forth.   
Finally the announcements:

• Vincentian Academy with 70 points are your WPIAL champions.
• With 117 points, North Catholic is runners up.
• West Greene, at 130 has punched their ticket to Hershey.
• And in the final qualifying spot, with a point total of 145 are the  Riverview Raiders.

A Sweet  Fourth Place!  A State’s berth!  

Hershey, baby!  We are going to Hershey!

STATES Recap

Chocolate. Debra. Eye Liner. Braids. Debra. Chocolate. Tears and hugs as Izzy and Mere conclude four years as Varsity Raiders and six years of running for the Coaches O.  

DIGITS REVISITED (2-0-1-8 …. 3 + 4 = 7)

2-0-1-8 are four seemingly inconsequential digits.  When you next find yourself in the Riverview High School gymnasium, take a moment to look up into the rafters.  You will see the Girls Cross Country banner emblazoned with those four digits. 2-0-1-8. Izzy, Mere, Marina, Mikaela, Gillian, Ally and Hann will only leave behind those digits to mark the effort they put in over an historic season.   

What these young ladies will take with them are the sweet memories:
Memories …. of winter training runs along the Boulevard and across the Hulton Bridge …  of a hip-to-hip 7-mile trek alongside Coach Palma and each other as the battled up and up and up the Laurel Mountains …  of another and yet another and yet another rain-soaked section race, that culminated in a race that few (we are talking about you, Bobby) gave them a chance to win.

And “fun” memories of one nasty, never-ending hill in California (Pennsylvania) that wouldn’t stand in their way, despite their own tears, as they fought together for some Chocolatey goodness.  These ladies will take with them memories of how a 3-pack and a 4-pack could add up to a Magnificent Seven.