The 2006 Radnor High School girls' cross country team finished a remarkable season by winning the AAA state champinship over a young, but undaunted Emmaus team. Radnor began the season with a national ranking and #1 in PA, and had that target on their backs all season. But with the guidance of the Father-Daughter Team Flanagan coaching tandem of Tom and Bridget, and senior leadership by four of the top five runners, the girls survived the pressures, both internal and external, to win the school's first state XC title.
Top to bottom: Liz Milewski,
Hannah Granger, June Farley,
Kelyn Freedman, Shannon Holm, Katie Lally
Most of the varsity agreed to put their thoughts on the season into words. PennTrackXC.com is grateful to each of them for taking the time to share their perspectives, and again, congratulate them on their achievements.
We'll publish one new one daily, beginning 12/27 with their freshman sensation, and soccer-player-turned-stud-runner, Kelyn Freedman. The Radnor Stories will be followed next week by the Coatesville Chronicles.
Kelyn Freedman (Q&A with Hannah Granger)
Hannah Granger (stories written during the season)
Kelyn Freedman (Q & A with Hannah Granger)
When did you actually decide to run Cross Country and why did you make that choice?
I decided to run cross country over the summer. Katie Lally, who I had known from lacrosse, had been trying to persuade me to run for the past year. I had sort of brushed it off thinking I would do soccer, like I had since kindergarten. But she got me interested, so I emailed coach Flanagan to ask him about cross country because I had never ran before. He told me how well the girls had done the year before, and how much better they could do this coming season. Throughout the summer I kept changing my mind, one week I would say I was doing soccer, then next week I’d say I was running cross country. The decision was hard but I chose cross country because I thought I could contribute more to Coach Flanagan’s team than the soccer team.
What were those first practices like, running with all the seniors?
The first practices with the varsity were a little intimidating. I didn’t really feel like I belonged, and didn’t even know if the team liked me or if they thought I was just a stupid freshmen. I soon learned that they were all very nice and wanted to include me in whatever they did, even outside of running.
Did you have any idea what you were getting yourself into by joining the team?
I knew that the expectations were high for RGXC [Radnor Girls Cross Country] and how they were expected to win States, but I had no idea what a big deal states actually was.
Do you remember your goals as a new runner on a High School Varsity team for the first time?
I didn’t know what to make as my goals, because I didn’t know if I would be any good at cross country.
What was the first race like? How’d you feel at the first little scrimmage meet when the girls ‘let you win?’
The first race wasn’t bad, the girls weren’t nervous so they kept me calm. I stayed with the varsity the whole time and was very proud of myself. I felt kind of weird when they let me win by a few seconds, because we had all been together for the whole race. I thought it was very nice of them to let me win and I really appreciated it.
What are your memories of that NY race against Hilton?
At the starting line we were all tense. But when the race began we calmed down and ran our race. I was with Hannah most of the race until about the last quarter mile. I remember going up a tiny hill at about two and a half miles and I was practically walking and I couldn’t get myself to go any faster, but once I got over that hill I picked it up for the end of the race. After the race we went on a cool down jog, and as we were coming back, they announced the winner. We were expecting to come in second, but the announcer had us in first place. We were so excited, and just sprinted back to the tent to see our coach and parents. Everyone was hugging and cheering it was really exciting. Then we found out that there was a scoring mistake and we really got second, it was a little disappointing but we were really ok with it. We knew that we had come close (9 points) and that we had given Hilton a scare and that we would beat them next time, but we never got that chance.
How’d it feel to lead the team as a freshman, then what was it like when the seniors started to step it up towards the end of the season?
It was fun to lead the team (for a little while anyway). I just let Hannah pace me and then go at the last mile or so. It was great when the seniors started to step it up. I was so happy for them. I wasn’t upset at all because I wasn’t getting worse; they were just getting better. Liz was racing like never before and Hannah was right there with her. At States it was June who came next and we were all so happy for her; she had a great race and we couldn’t have done it without her! She was slowed in the beginning of the season by an injury, so I didn’t really know what kind of runner she was. But she turned out to be awesome, just like everyone else.
What’d Flanagan have to say to you when you were leading one of the top ranked teams in the US?
Not much, not that I remember anyway, I don’t think he wanted to put any pressure on me because I wasn’t used to anything like this.
What are you memories of the district meet...?
The district meet was huge, there were so many schools and we didn’t have that great of a starting block. I remember before the race Liz was freaking out about the start and how we had a disadvantage. But Shannon pointed out that we actually had an advantage because we would start slightly downhill. However, when the race started, we all realized that we had a disadvantage. It looked like two separate races were merging and we were a little behind. That made things a little difficult because there were a lot more people in front of me and I wasn’t used to that. The thing that bothered me most about the district race, though, was the weather. I was cold the whole time, and at the end of the race I couldn’t feel my hands.
...the state meet?
I was very nervous for the state meet, the most I had been all year. It was scary at the starting line, but when we took off our sweatpants to reveal the strips that were on our legs (from a tanning lotion and tape party the night before) it loosened us up and released some of the tension. The race started and there were a lot of people, not as much as at districts, but still a lot. The whole race I was surrounded by people which was weird because I was used to breaking away from a pack and working on my own, or at least with the Radnor pack. People were cheering everywhere and I kind of wished I was alone for a little bit, but it was helpful having my teammate Shannon with me for a lot of the race. As I was coming around the last bend, I heard the Emmaus coach yell out to his runner who had been with me the whole race to catch me. All I had going through my mind was not to let her pass me. Back at the team tent when we found out we won, it was so exciting; everyone was hugging and yelling and the parents were excited and it was basically chaos.
What was the whole NTN thing really about?
At first the whole NTN thing was confusing to me; I didn’t really know what it was all about. It was mostly stressful, then aggravating now that I know we should have gone. I didn’t understand how they could pick teams without a lot of the teams never racing against each other.
What were your thoughts during the wait for a Nike Team National bid?
I was almost positive that we were going to NTN and I was really excited about it. We had worked so hard and this was a chance that doesn’t come often. When we found out that we weren’t going I was very upset, not only for myself but for the seniors. This was their last year and they had been working hard for four years for a chance like this. For it to end like that was a little upsetting. I think we belonged at that race in Oregon. We would have done well.
Do you miss anything about Cross Country?
I have just started basketball and I miss all the girls from cross country. The basketball team is fun, but no other team will ever have the bond that my cross country team had this fall. That’s what made it so special.
What was the highlight of the season?
The highlight of the season was winning State. It was what everyone had been working so hard for the whole year and it’s what we all wanted. I thought it was great to win for the seniors in their last high school season. It really meant a lot to us.
What are your plans for next year? Are you going to train a little more over the summer or do what worked for you this fall?
I will probably run a little more over the summer to work up to preseason. Because last year I started the first week or so easy and hopefully next year I can go right into varsity training.
Any goals for next season?
For next season I want our team to win Centrals and perhaps Delcos. Then I want to go to States, hopefully with some other teammates or maybe all of them.
What are your plans for next year? Do you think you will be able to help the team to another state championship? Can Radnor beat Emmaus?
Next year will be harder than this year because we will lose four of our top five runners. However we still have 6 varsity runners who have all ran in varsity races before. We are also hoping to get a few fast freshmen. I think it’s too soon to be talking about States, but hopefully we will at least make an appearance there.
Clare Mahoney
First Invitiational: DeSales University
So, I had made the varsity team by a smidge. I was running in the first invitational meet of the season as the 7th varsity runner. I was shocked, stressed and nervous, not only because the course was so hard, but because now I had to have the will and running power to stay on that team; the team that was probably going to do really well throughout the season. Walking the course made me tired, which was a bad sign. I always did everything my star running brother told me to do: get to bed early, drink tons of water beginning days before the race, eat pasta, fruit, etc. But it seemed like nothing ever worked because I was always tired.
We headed to the start to warm up and stretch, but all I could think about were the blisters on the back of my heels from my very old spikes. I forgot my band-aids so I had to run without the blisters covered. Other than that race itself, it was the most painful thing I have ever endured.
The first mile of the race wasn’t that bad, but the woods are what killed me! The uphill was a zigzag, which just made it so much longer. My thighs burned with every leap forward I took until I finally reached the top. I was told to let go of everything at the top of hills and just relax and fly down, but it’s not that easy! It’s hard to just relax and fly down a hill when your body is so exhausted that you could go pummeling down at any second.
This race was also the only race I actually thought about stopping in. I was probably still a little out of shape because it was only the first big meet, but I honestly contemplated in my head just stopping and walking. That would not have gone over well with my team mates, so I just kept trucking through, until finally the brutal corn field part ended and the finish line was in sight.
When the race ended, I was completely drained. I could barely walk back to the team tent to grab my water bottle. That race was, mentally, the most challenging. But I’m glad I can say that I ran it in a varsity race.
June Farley
This past season flew by, but was definitely a memorable one. In the beginning of the season, our team’s main goal was to make it to Nike Team Nationals in Oregon. The pressure was on from the beginning because people believed we had the potential and drive to achieve this goal. We knew that all eyes were on us and that every race counted. However, in the beginning of the season, I had different concerns than the rest of our team since I was injured due to micro tears in my Achilles tendon. I felt the pressure for my team and on the sidelines heard coaches and runners talking about our potential. What I liked most about our team is that we were there for each other and made the team fun. We knew our goal and would have a meeting every so often to mention the results, but we would always make sure to get a few laughs in before the race. Our team definitely had depth, since it seemed almost at every race the order would change. We had 6 strong runners all with the potential to break 19 minutes at some point in the season and not just 2 up front runners. If someone was having a bad race, you could count on the others to step it up that day.
It seems like just yesterday that I was gazing out onto the state course and preparing myself for possibly my last race in high school. The district meet a week before determined if I was still capable of running a time below 19 minutes, since I was injured for most of the season. At districts I placed 25th with a time of 18:55 and thought I would reach for my other individual goal, which was to place top 25 at states. When I passed the finish line after many steep hills with twists and turns, I placed 33rd and was perfectly content with that. Our team achieved the state title and was the first team from the Delaware County in the past 46 years to do so. In our minds, we were running to be granted an invitation to Oregon for Nationals, but our accomplishment with winning states was honorable not just for our team, but for our community as well. The smiles swept across each and every one of our faces when we found out that we achieved the state title; we were completely overwhelmed.
I value my other team members motivation and have grown from the atmosphere they have created for me with their advice and opinions. Our team wouldn’t have achieved as much if it wasn’t for the knowledge of our coach, Tom Flanagan a.k.a. (T-Flans). I’m proud to announce that T-Flans was awarded Coach of the Year in Pennsylvania which is well deserved. Thanks to all the fans throughout the season that gave us motivation especially the Radnor Boys Cross Country team. I will never forget the times we spiraled our legs with self tanner, called Katie a freshmore(not quite a sophomore in our eyes), marveled over Kelyn’s athletic ability, pranked each others cars, pasta dinners at Bertuccis and Nifty Fifties, and our infamous berry wars at practice. Good Luck to everyone next year with cross country and college for those seniors.
Liz Milewski
July 1st marks the start of our summer training. I knew this year’s training would be different than previous years; I had an Aircast on my leg treating the stress fracture I had since the beginning of the spring track season. Cross training was nothing new to me though, as I made it through the spring season by cross training during the week and racing in the meets. I knew it was going to be a long summer of swimming, biking, and using the elliptical, but our team’s potential for the season kept me motivated. I had to help organize the captain’s practices this summer, keeping and eye on the girls as they put their miles in. While watching them, I only hoped my cross training would equate to the team’s work.
XC Camp
This year, for the first time ever, Radnor sent a team to cross country camp at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY. This camp featured many of NY’s finest, including the defending NTN Champions from Hilton, NY. We were the only out of state team, and had to room with runners from other teams. I shared a room with Allison Sawyer from Hilton and Liz Deir (a 2005-06 FootLocker Finalist). I was pretty intimidated as I wheeled my bike in while wearing my Aircast. I probably looked like a mess. Nothing was more frustrating than going to cross country camp and not being able to run. While the rest of the girls were training, I biked with a member of Hilton’s National Championship team, Amanda Griggs, who had graduated in the spring. It was fun biking in a place other than Wayne, but I always questioned if my workouts built a base.
Camp was a good experience: we did some team-bonding, and we got to know our newest addition, Hannah Granger. We learned about overcoming obstacles and what it takes to be a champion. One of my highlights from camp was seeing our potential pre-season ranking for the first time on tullyrunners.com. Our predicted ranking was NE #3 or #4. This pumped us all up and made us start believing in our capabilities. When the actual rankings were published, we were NE #4. This season wouldn’t be like last year where we kind of snuck up meet by meet. Instead it became a season where people knew who we were, and towards the end it even seemed like an “everyone is out to get us” type season.
Preseason
After camp, we had two weeks of summer training before preseason. This was good news for me because I was finally able to start running again on August 1st. Granted my running was limited, starting at just five minutes the first day and only increasing five minutes a week, but at least I was going somewhere, and finally began to see some improvement. The downside - I had to wear my Aircast while I was running! Not only was it boiling out, but under the cast I had to wear a thick, knee-high sock that made it even more ridiculously hot. Running was limited to grass and treadmills only and I had to run with the dreadfull Aircast until the first meet on September 9th.
DeSales
I was really only excited for the first meet, the Centaur Invitational, because it marked the day I got to stop wearing the darn Aircast. I didn’t feel as prepared as I would have been had I been running since July 1st with the rest of the team. All the new team pressure was on me too. There wasn’t going to be a meet this season where we weren’t intensely judged by the NTN selection committee. That race went probably as well as it could have for me individually… I finished 8th, almost 7th, but Katie Lally nipped me right at the end. Considering the course and my lack of running, I was feeling confident. Our team was getting just as confident and looking forward to the rest of the season. With being 8th overall, I was only fourth for the Radnor team. Four in the top eight with a 25 second spread or so between us was definitely motivating – we also won the team title. This win actually dropped us to fifth in the northeast although all the other teams were idle. Their reason was that our fifth runner was a little bit back. We weren’t too worried about it, because we all know she was coming back from some aches and pains, and she peaks incredibly well towards the end when it really counts.
Bulldogs
This was our last meet before the highly anticipated Warwick Valley cross country race in NY. The Rose Tree course was different than normal due to construction. This course didn’t have the infamous “two-mile hill” so I was pretty excited, and was looking to get a good time. Kelyn, our superstar freshman took it out for us and was battling with a girl from Padua. She made a couple of wrong turns that had us screaming from our places to redirect her, but in the end she was able to out kick her opponent and win the race. We then proceeded to place 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. We scored 19 points with a 28 second spread. We were pumped, even when we learned the course was a little shorter than 5k, but we had our top five together. This was a huge confidence boost for us as we headed into our battle against Hilton. This week’s rankings had us NE #4. We gained our spot back after the week before. I began noticing how much easier it is to focus and work through races when you have a whole team, working for a common goal, to support each other. The real definition of cross country really.
The Big One
On September 28th we headed up to NY for the Warwick Valley XC Mania race. We knew our camp friends and current US #1 team Hilton would be there. The first thing we did was preview the course. Right as we drove up, Hilton pulled in too. We said some hellos, talked about the weather and how cold it was, and then headed off to do our own thing. Most of the team wanted to walk the course, but Hannah and I decided to jog it. We absolutely loved this course. The course was clearly defined the entire way – wide, grass paths, perfect for a race. The course was definitely going to be a challenge with some good hills – the only thing that made this course faster than say, Rose Tree, was the fact that every uphill was followed by a long gradual downhill which, when used correctly, can propel you through a race. We had our pasta dinner the night before, although finding a place to eat was probably as big of a challenge as the one that would follow the next morning. We went to bed early, but only after finally finishing a game of Solitaire on Hannah’s laptop – we couldn’t leave without winning a game because that would just be ominous (we’re not superstitious or anything... ha). Let’s just say I was so nervous that it felt like I was half awake the entire night. No worries though. I woke up, did my normal routine, ate my normal pre-race snack, and was fired up for the race as was the rest of the team.
We got to the meet, found our tent, and ran into some familiar faces from camp. It was definitely nice going out of state and still knowing people. There was music blasting out of a tent by the finish line really got everyone moving. They should definitely think about trying something like that in Pennsylvania sometime.
As the race started we saw Hilton’s top two take it out. We kind of matched the other girls in the pack hoping our top five could break it up. At different parts of the course we heard Coach Flanagan saying, “Go NOW! We are in this!” The score was very close through the whole race – too close to call from just watching. We all finished without knowing who won.
We went for our barefoot cool down and when we came back we heard the announcement… WE WON! We hurried over, hugged Flanagan, and it was basically pandemonium. Then the score was challenged –Hilton’s 3rd runner wasn’t scored, and after the recount we were announced as placing second, but only by 9 points. Nothing really changed, we were still celebrating. We had done exactly what we came to do, give the Hilton girls a run for their money.
Delco’s
It was another new course at Rose Tree; this one was almost the same as the traditional course. As a senior, I was thinking that it would be pretty sweet to leave Delco’s with a win. Amanda Bascelli from Carroll took the lead from the start and never looked back. I fought the whole way, and even though I didn’t accomplish my goal of a 1st place finish, I would consider this my breakout race for the season. I had to get over the barrier of coming back from and injury, and this was the race that got me over. The team represented with 6 of the top 18 despite a fall in our top 5.
Centrals
Centrals was another race where it would be sweet to go out with a win as senior. Again, that was my goal. The race panned out almost exactly the same was as Delco’s. Hannah Klighman took it out fast and lead from the start. I got to the top of the two mile hill and saw her in literally the same place I saw Amanda Bascelli the week before. I was thinking that I couldn’t let the same thing happen as last week. I pushed through the last mile and pulled out the win. Team-wise we placed 1-3-4-5-12 for the top five and won the CL title. It was a big senior-moment… the last regular season race at Rose Tree.
Districts
The district race is probably my favorite meet in cross country. I love Lehigh’s course, and I was anxious to get a good time. I wanted a PR, since I hadn’t gotten one since my 18:43 sophomore year at the same meet. Flanagan was telling me that I could be in the top 3, but District 1 is always so strong so I didn’t want to get my hopes up. As a team, we knew this meet would be huge. Not only does it compare us to over 60 teams in one day, but it was a good course for a team spread and team average. The race went out fast as always, but I never felt like it eased up – it seemed to me like an all-out sprint the entire time. I was floating in the lead pack through the half way point, and then three of us went for it. We worked off each other for the last mile, and I kicked in everything I had and ended in 2nd place. My time was a 37 second PR… I ran a new PR of 18:06. I think by the time I got down the chute and looked back, our whole team was already across the line. Everyone pulled through with their best races of the season, and our 18:39 team average was beyond our expectations. We won the district title and qualified for the state meet.
States (Or State?)
Word of mouth had it that the newcourse was just as challenging as the old one. As I walked the course I tried to make myself feel better by saying, “Oh this isn’t too bad, we’ll still be fresh at this part,” or “but at the top of the hill there is so much time to relax and get a stride back… lots of downhill!” The reality check came in the race when the first mile split was 5:35. It was my fastest opening mile of the season, on what was one of the hardest courses. The pain caught up with me around two miles, and then it was a hold-on type race until the end. I placed 19th individually, a definite improvement on my other two XC states showings. This race was representative of our pack running: no extreme front runner, but we placed 9-10-17-25-26 after the teams were scored – good for the win. It was a memorable ending to our biggest race of the season. At the time, however, we didn’t expect our season to be over; we thought we were still going.
A Bittersweet Feeling
I’d like to say that I was surprised by not receiving an NTN invitation, but I guess the denial was coming. There’s always the “keep a positive attitude” approach to this type of waiting, but as the NY and NJ meets continued, we watched our ranking slip week by week. Granted it wasn’t our team’s fault for having our season end so much sooner than the other states in our region, but hey, that’s the way it goes. You win some, you lose some. There were countless things we could have blamed for not getting a bid, but there was one thing we could never blame, and that was ourselves. In my opinion, we did absolutely everything we could to follow the guidelines NTN set. We worked hard week in and week out, and I feel our results were a good representation of how much we wanted this invitation. People say we didn’t get invited because we didn’t attend the Manhattan Invite. That was the same day as Delco’s. Sure we could have missed this meet, but isn’t staying loyal to the county where our team will always be a part of important too? We had our head-to-head competition at Warwick, and we proved ourselves there, we thought that would be enough.
Our season was extra memorable because we had four seniors in our scoring five, and our order was different in every (every single!) race this season. This number speaks of Flanagan’s coaching ability because it’s not too common to find a high school girls cross country team with four seniors scoring every meet. We were all ecstatic when we learned of Flanagan’s Coach of The Year Status – we all knew he was the best!
After state, I didn’t feel like the season was over. I know I wasn’t the only one feeling like this, a bunch of the other girls confessed to having the same thoughts. Since preseason, Coach Flanagan was telling us how winning states was his ultimate goal – everything else was bonus. Personally, I was thinking otherwise - my ultimate goal was qualifying for NTN. Everything throughout the season, in my eyes, was a step along the way to reaching the goal. Even states – if we didn’t win states we wouldn’t get a bid. It’s horrible that the thought that politics may have influenced the recipients of the invitations even crossed our minds. Who knows. Although no team invited was undeserving of their bid, we just felt that the criteria NTN put out as far as how they selected teams was exactly what we did, which leaves us feeling stung when were left out. The bittersweet feeling comes into play when we saw the outcome of Nike Team Nationals. Hilton, who we only lost to by 9 points this season, finished second. Our region finished 1, 2, and 4.
We’ll never know where we could have finished. But that’s also the cool part; it’s a mystery. Based on the success of the NE region, it’s safe to say that we could have performed well at NTN. Maybe we don’t have all the cool Nike gear or the experiences, but I did learn a couple of lessons. I learned that life isn’t always fair - I don’t think that one needs much explanation. I learned that you can’t always control what happens to you, but you can change the reaction. In this case, we move onto indoor, get some times, and see what we can make of NIN, if that’s what we decide to do. I also learned how much of an influence support can have on a team. I don’t think there was a race this season where I didn’t hear “GO RADNOR” throughout the entire course. The PA support for Radnor was unbelievable, and it fired us up in races. Am I upset we didn’t get an invite? Yes, but I gained some valuable experiences this season, that now I wouldn’t trade… even for an NTN bid.
Shannon Holm
I remember when I was a freshman, and winning Delco’s for the first time felt like the pinnacle of my running career, the best my team could get. This year, winning it for the third time in four years, it felt a little differently. Going into preseason, I was excited to have most of my girls returning, and more worried about shin pain then anything else.
After cross-training for a few weeks, I was back by our first meet, the DeSales Invitational. Or so I thought. Falling twice during the race and not as ready as I guess I thought I was, I stumbled in at 53rd place, ironically the same place I earned at districts freshman year and states sophomore year. I was okay with a bad race though, and was determined to get back to myself. However, what really affected me was all of the Radnor-bashing which this caused. With the fifth runner “too far back,” as many rankings and forums stated, we could never be a contender at states.
Heading up to Warwick, I still hadn’t quite recovered from DeSales. After a few confidence boosters, such as five of the top six at the Bulldog invite, I knew I was ready to really race again. I trusted Flanagan to gauge what I was capable of, and I followed his advice. Every girl on my team followed Flanagan’s suggestions at Warwick, and I think that’s what made this such a close race. As thrilling as it was during our fifteen minutes of victory, I knew we didn’t deserve the win, at least not yet.
Delco’s and Centrals are probably my favorite cross country meets. I love Rose Tree Park, and knowing every girl you’re with is a pretty cool feeling. Also, this year we were able to stay close together for most of it, which is definitely fun. During both of these races, we had more variability than any other races. Some people struggled; I finally got to help them out a bit. Also, knowing that these were my last races at my favorite park and finally having that strong, close, and unified team I yearned for since freshman year really helped to push me even harder.
It was strange going into Districts as the favorite. Last year we were the surprise victors, but this year if we didn’t win, we failed. As they say, when you’re at the top, all you can do is fall. After Liz calmed down about our starting blocks, we were able to get focused and run. The girls all really ran great races, and we won with a pretty awesome team average. Also, two girls were able to get their high PR goals. Liz came in at a blazing 18:05, and June achieved her goal of breaking 19 minutes. I was hoping to be closer to my Lehigh PR, but oh well.
We were all really nervous going into States. I guess the pressure of being the favorite is what caused this. However, Hannah and I had a stress-relieving surprise. Hannah had seen some team in Washington who had barber-pole style striped their legs with self-tanner. She thought it was awesome, I agreed. We brought it up a few times with our team throughout the year, and got quite mixed reviews. However, in the hotel room the night before, Hannah, Liz and I just started taping and hoped our dubious teammates would follow. Luckily, they did, and most of them turned out pretty sweet. Instead of sitting in our rooms scared the entire night, we got to laugh and enjoy the moment.
Race day we were all pretty quiet, I know I was thinking about our race the entire time. We all warmed up in our traditional manners, fulfilled superstitions, and then got on the starting line. Emmaus was two blocks over, and we tried not to look at them. We cheered, Liz and I gave pep talks, and off we went. This race was so different from last year, because if I went out too hard, I could lose the team title, our goal for the season. My goal for the race was to run hard and consistently. I knew I wasn’t going to break any records, discovering I had bronchitis for the past two weeks. However, I was able to again follow Flanagan’s advice and finished in a strong fifth girl.
We were all terrified after finishing the race. Even though coaches and parents rationalized our win, I still didn’t want to believe it, even Flanagan admitted he wouldn’t guarantee a win. When Hannah and I finally saw the board, we sprinted over to our team, first spotting Flanagan. I have this amazing picture, taken by Dad, of our shocked reactions. when we arrived at our legit tent (props to the Lally’s) we had the typical celebration of screaming, crying and hugging. Winning this race made up for the disappointment at Warwick and all of the struggle and stress we put up with through the season. We headed home to await the decision from NTN.
Making it to NTN was a goal we had since OTC, the running camp some of the girls went to this summer. Watching the footage from last year and hearing the Hilton girl’s stories made it such a lofty but hopefully rewarding goal. I remember while watching the video, Hannah looked over to me and said, “We should do that.” So we made it our goal, despite Flanagan’s warnings. He didn’t like how we couldn’t control it, how it was all based on a board’s opinions of the teams. However, if there’s one thing I know about my team, is that we’re all extraordinarily stubborn. After hearing the regional bids, we weren’t too hopeful, reasonably so.
After dealing with the anger, disappointment, and hindsight of the loss, I’m not so sure NTN would have been the best end to our season. It would have been awesome to fly to Oregon, get free stuff, and race a final time with my team. We did everything we could to try to qualify, and the things we accomplished along the way were worth the struggle. The bitterness, manipulation, and chaos of the final process seemed to me much out of sync of the entire attitude of cross country. I love the raw competition of cross-country, being able to prove yourself in a race. So maybe we’re not deemed NTN material, but we had a pretty amazing ride trying to get there. I can honestly say I am incredibly proud of my team, even throughout the rough parts, and winning “State” was the perfect culmination of my years running cross country.
Hannah Granger (Stories written during the season)
Oct 5 - Radnor and Hilton; Friends or Rivals? Or Maybe Both?
Oct 21 - Radnor Races the "DelCo's:" SATs, a Smart Coach, and a big Team Win
Oct 24 - Radnor's Race at Central League... and my shoe goes missing.
Nov 1 - On to the State Meet! Or is it “States”?
Dec 5 - What a Day for PA and the Northeast at NTN! Reflections of a Radnor runner...