Friday, October 27, 2006

CGA is making
a run for it
at state

CULVER - While the rest of the students are away, the cross country team will - run?

For most at Culver Academies, this week has been about going home during Fall Break. But for the CGA cross country team, this week has been all about preparing for the state meet on Saturday.

“Hopefully the girls are resting a little bit,” CGA coach Mike Chastain said about his girls not being bothered with going to class this week.

If rested, Chastain believes this year's squad can match the efforts posted by the 2005 and 2004 state-qualifying teams, which placed 11th and 15th, respectively. If CGA is to do that well, or better, then juniors Alex Banfich and Kiley Trennepohl will need to bring their ‘A' games.

In 2004, Banfich and Trennepohl were joined by Elise Hoover, in what Chastain calls, “the best three incoming freshmen in (Culver Academies) history.” Banfich went on to place third at state in her freshmen season, then won the championship last season, and along with Trennepohl, has led CGA to a 19th ranking going into the state meet.

“Kiley was our No. 2 runner last year, as well - being in the situation she is,” Chastain said of Trennepohl running on the same team with the defending state champion. “On most teams, she'd be a No. 1 runner.”

As far as Banfich goes, she appears ready to defend her title, taking first place at the New Prairie Semistate.

“There's a lot of pressure, but I love that,” she said about defending her title at the Lavern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute. “I just need to run my race.”

And she's well aware that she's a marked girl at the competition, which doesn't seem to bother her at all.

“All I know is there's going to be a lot of good, quality runners,” she said about the state meet. “It wouldn't be fun if there wasn't.”

CGA may have the best runner in the state, but several of the upper-echelon schools may have five of the top 10 runners in the state.

“All of the Indianapolis and Fort Wayne schools are bigger and tougher than the schools we faced at semistate,” Trennepohl assessed.

Chastain is also aware of the state competition.

“A school like (No. 1) Westfield may be able to put five girls between Alex and Kiley,” the coach said.

In qualifying for state, CGA placed fifth at semistate, four points away from sixth place and an end to its season. By placing first at semistate as an individual, Banfich had already punched her ticket to state, but once it was announced the team had qualified, she was even more excited.

“It was twice as exciting,” Banfich said. “It's great.”

In 2004, CGA qualified for state by taking fifth place by two points, and in 2005, the team placed fourth at the semistate. So this year's squad, though talented, was teetering on not qualifying following persistent injuries and illnesses.

“We had lots of little nagging injuries,” Chastain said.

Those injuries stem from some girls not running during the summer, and with CGA beginning its season two weeks after other schools, Chastain's job can be a little difficult.

“It's a disadvantage in training, and when we do train, we need to do it little more gradually,” he said about getting the late start. “All schools may have that problem with kids not running, but they're still in the community. The coaches can get in contact with them.”

One girl he doesn't need to worry about running year-round is Banfich.

“She's really positive all the time,” senior Kelly Norton said of Banfich. “She's always encouraging us to run.”

This may be CGA's third straight trip to state, but the girls are just excited now as they were three years ago.

“It's always exciting,” Banfich said about making the trip south. “The first was really exciting and the second was fun because it was CGA's second-straight trip. Then this year, we just qualified by four points.”

And Norton is looking forward to the trip as much as anyone.

“It's really exciting because this is my last year,” she said. “We just want to run our best, and run personal bests.”

For her last meet, Norton will run a course which isn't only challenging on her body, but also her mind.

“It's a real mental course,” she said about the rolling terrain course, surrounded by fences. “There's also a tough sand trail we have to run through.”

Trennepohl shares Norton's sentiments.

“It's kind of plain,” the junior said of the course.

The course may be tough, but with Banfich winning on it last season, Chastain can see that happening again.

“That's the goal,” he said of Banfich winning state again. “But there are other awfully good runners there, and others capable of winning.”