Banfich faces toughest test
Culver Academy's Alex Banfich heads to the finish line in the girls 3-A race at the New Prairie Invitational on Sept. 16. Tribune Photo/JOE KLINE |
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Tribune Correspondent
Alex Banfich is facing the toughest test of her high school career this weekend.
No, not winning Saturday's girls cross country semistate at New Prairie. She has already done that, twice before. A third would be no big deal.
This test is the one she faces as team leader of the No. 18-ranked Culver Girls Academy Eagles.
After a season in which literally everything has gone wrong for the Eagle girls, Banfich has to -- somehow -- help her teammates do everything right in their most important race of the year.
It's a tall order. In comparison, winning another state championship might be a piece of cake.
"In all my years of coaching, I've never had a season like this," says exasperated Culver coach Mike Chastain. "It's been one thing after another. We've had people hurt. We've had people sick. Mentally, our kids are drained. I can honestly tell you that nobody in our top seven, not one, has been healthy all season."
That includes Banfich, who fell ill before her own Culver Academies Invitational and missed a week of training.
Here's another bit of news: Banfich ran last Saturday's regional on a bad ankle. She sprained it while warming down after the Logansport sectional. A trip to the hospital for X-rays showed nothing broken, but she basically sat between the sectional and regional and then competed with her ankles heavily taped. It will still be a problem at the semistate.
But the junior team captain says that's not her biggest concern.
"I want everybody on the team to feel positive and believe that we can do this," says Banfich. "We can get back to state. We have to believe."
Rarely does a season begin with as much promise as this one did. With almost everybody back from last year's state meet squad -- including reigning state champion Banfich -- CGA was looking forward to a banner campaign followed by a potential trip to the awards podium in Terre Haute on Oct. 28.
But things went wrong almost immediately. No. 2 runner Willow Smith fell off the pace with medical issues. A flu-like virus swept through the campus. Key runners began suffering overuse injuries.
"There was a point where girls were kind of throwing their arms up and saying, 'What's the use,'" recalls junior Kiley Trennepohl. "The rest of us said, 'Don't talk that way. Don't think that way. Just hang in there. We will be all right."
It got to the point where CGA - ranked in the state's Top 20 all season - didn't even have enough runners to record a team score in a couple meets.
"It has been really frustrating," said Trennepohl, who has assumed the team's No. 2 spot. "Cross country is half physical and half mental. I think the mental part is what we're dealing with right now."
By the way, Trennepohl is one of those on the injured list. Monday, she
slipped on wet pavement during practice and sprained an ankle.
"Our team captains (Banfich and Kelly Norton) have really had a tough
job this season," said Chastain. "They've had to keep everybody
positive and keep the girls together. Given the situation, I think they've
done the best they can."
After barely winning the sectional, the Eagles were upset by Penn at last
Saturday's regional. Now, they limp into the semistate, knowing they are
locked in a tight battle with Penn, St. Joseph's and New Prairie for the
fifth and final state qualifying spot.
Talk of winning a medal in Terre Haute is long gone. Now, they are
struggling just to get there.
Banfich wants to win another semistate title. But more importantly, she
wants her team on the starting line beside her at state.
"That's really my focus," she says. "We're going to do this together."