Cross country: Another year, another Handley group at states (11-11-06)
By Craig Juer (Daily Staff Writer)
WINCHESTER — Handley's girls have reached the Group AA state cross country meet each of the past five falls.
Anna Cote and Katelyn Mason were not about to let their senior season be the one that bucks the trend.
"We had our team meeting in the spring after track and [Mason] said, 'The team has made it to state every year since I've been here, and we are not going to miss state on my watch,'" Handley girls' coach Mike McKiernan said. "She's not the No. 1 girl, but she's taken that attitude that we will make it [and] we will do that."
That No. 1 spot belongs to Cote, who competed last year for the role with Erin Bender, who now runs at James Madison. This season, she's the Judges' undisputed star. With Cote delivering low points up front and Mason pacing the pack, Handley's underclassmen are bookended by two relentless leaders.
They'll need that inspiration at today's state meet. Group AA competition begins at 11:45 a.m. at Great Meadow in The Plains.
"Anna just gives us that really good low card," McKiernan said. "And what Katelyn's been doing lately is keeping that group at three, four and five together, and really driving them. They go out and key off of her and move up later on."
Mason, nicknamed "The Beast" by her teammates sometime during her first two years at Handley, is an intense, hard-working runner whose speed belies her short stature.
"She's so little, and you look at her and you wouldn't think that she's crazy and can run as hard as she can," Cote said. "She really pushes herself to that limit. It's just unexpected."
Cote, who finished sixth at last week's Region II meet, was practically a lock to reach the state meet as an individual. But that wasn't good enough.
"She said, 'I don't want to go to state by myself; I want the whole team to go,'" McKiernan recalled. "Clearly she's one of the best runners in the area, but she really wanted everybody else to come along."
To help motivate her team, Cote assigned running quotes to each of her teammates and handed out blank "goal cards" for them to fill out with individual aspirations for the regional meet.
"I decided I'd decorate little cards for them, just so they can write [their goal] down and read it every night before they go to bed," Cote said. "Setting goals for yourself [is] kind of important, so I hope I'm setting a good example for them to set goals in life."
That motivation — and the Judges' hard work at the region meet last week — paid off. Handley finished second to keep its attendance streak at the state meet intact.
Now that the team has made it to states, the hard part is over, Mason said.
"We're just going to have fun," she said. "It's my last race ever in high school — and Anna's, too — and we're just going to have fun with it. We're not expecting huge things at states, but we're glad we're going."
Junior Jeannette Mathieu said Cote and Mason didn't pressure her and the other younger runners to make sure they qualify. But she knew the thought of falling short of the state meet was something they secretly abhorred.
"They've always said, as long as we run our hardest, then it's OK — whatever happens, we have to be happy with that," Mathieu said.
"But I could tell they did want to make it to states their last year."
