With two back-to-back state championships Carroll's cross-country teams credit a combination of factors to its success - Photo courtesy of BluDoor Studios
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Carroll Cross-Country Teams' Back-to-Back Championships
By Catherine Adcock, Deputy Editor
Youbrcould say they have the makings of a dynasty. For two years in a row, Southlake-Carroll'sbrcross-country teams roundly trampled the competition to take home both boys andbrgirls state titles after years of medaling at the competition. That's to saybrnothing of being named the best cross-country program in the nation by athleticbrbrand Nike for two consecutive years as well. For competitors, the teams'brunassailable reputation precedes them. But for the Southlake-Carroll runners,brit's just being part of the family.
“They'rebrconstantly doing things together to create that family environment,” says headbrcoach Justin Leonard. “That's what sets us apart. The more they care about eachbrother the harder they run.”
Thebrprogram built by Leonard and eagerly adopted by the athletes also deserves somebrof the credit. The no-cut, no-captain teams run using the all-in Praavobrprogram, all while Leonard impresses on them the values of hard-work andbrdedication. “I spend about 80 to 90 percent of my time in study skills andbrlogbook sessions talking about hard work, dedication, motivation, character.”
Cross-countrybrat Southlake-Carroll is a no-cut sport — which only supports thebrall-in-it-together team ethos. Nearly 150 students joined the cross-countrybrteam this academic year. “We don't have try outs,” says Leonard. “We don't havebrkids who don't make the team. Anybody's welcome to come and run.” Not allbrstudents compete, but the joy of long-distance isn't restricted to those who gobrto the state meets.
Itbronly further supports the hard work necessary to achieve the excellence thebrteams have become known for. “Kids respect work. You can take a kid who's abr10-minute miler but is running 60 to 70 miles a week and putting in just asbrmuch work and effort as the top guys — those kids respect kids like that.”brLeonard extrapolates to that supporting the team's mission of being the best.br“It's a positive environment that encourages hard work. The kids really buybrinto that, and they respect it.”
Asbrfor Leonard's unwillingness to select a team captain, he feels strongly it'sbrbest to let the kids lead themselves. “Different kids look up to differentbrkids. We have different leaders. Leaders who aren't very vocal and go out andbrget the work done; then we have the vocal leaders who get everybody in line andbrtalk.”
Long-distancebrrunning by its very nature requires hard work and dedication, particularly forbrthe team members at Southlake-Carroll. The team trains almost non-stopbrthroughout the year according to the dictates of the Paavo method. “Paavo” stresses year-around running without any days off,brand interval work close to race day. Challenging the prevailing wisdom thatbrhigh school runners need some time off, and that interval workouts should endbrwell before a meet, “Paavo” calls for the opposite.
Withbryear-round running and few, if no, days off and interval training all-the-waybrup to competition day, the method translates to a work ethic that takes Carrollbrto the top time and time again. It goes against the convention that runnersbrneed time off and work-outs should be end well before competition. “More thanbranything, it's a mindset that our training has, that hey, we're going to do thisbrno matter how you feel. We're going to find a way to get it done. And I thinkbrthat's carried over into the way we race.”
Whatbrled to the team's dominance for two years straight though? A combination ofbrthose factors, says Leonard, in addition to a very strong, experienced seniorbrclass. Both the girls team and the boys team had four-year varsity runners. Forbrthe girls, Courtney Kriegshauser and Shelby Chapin; and Trevor Gilley and JoebrStansone on the boys. “That's the type of leadership that you can't replace,”brsays Leonard. “They've been used to the big meets. They've been on the bigbrstage before. That's something that they did well because they've done it sobrmany times and got to where that was what was expected of them.”
Southlake-Carrollbrreturned from the state meet with no fewer than eight individual medals. Fourbrof the boys placed in the top six: Nate Sullivan, No. 2.; Joe Sanson No. 3;brTrevor Gilley, No. 4; and Connor Hendrickson No. 6. The girls placed almostbrexactly like the boys, four in the top seven: Courtney Kreigshasuer. No. 3;brShelby Chapin at No. 5; Elena Arriaza, No. 6; and Antigone Archer, No. 7. “ElinabrArriza, at the end of last season, her junior year, she was number 18 or 19,”brsays Leonard. “One year later, she got eighth as an individual, helping securebrour state championship and second place at nationals. That's just buying in andbrputting in the work, knowing that she could do that and believing in herself.”
Afterbrthe teams won state, they qualified for the superelite Nike Cross Nationalsbr(NXN) in Portland, where the top 22 teams in the country compete for the unofficialbrnational title. Southlake-Carroll was represented by 14 runners, eight girlsbrand six boys. The girls took home the runners-up trophy, the boys eighth. (Inbr2011 the boys were the runners up and the girls placed seventh). Individually,brShelby Chapin and Courtney Krieghauser came in ranked No. 22 and No. 54brrespectively; for the boys, Nate Sullivan, No. 20, Connor Hendrickson, No. 30,brand Joe Sanson, No. 31. Along with the wins came the accolades: Nate Sullivanbrwas named All American and the program itself won the title best program in thebrcountry — again.
“I always tell the kids at the qualifier forbrnationals, you're going to run for a chance of a lifetime, you're going to bebrtreated like royalty.” At NXN, athletes train at the same track thebrprofessional runners signed to Nike train on. Each region is represented onebrprofessional runner to act as a mentor through the meet, like two-time Olympianbrdistance runner Andrew Wheating. “It's a good environment where the distancebrkids and cross-country as a sport are looked at as very important — with hugebrrewards for them,” says Leonard.
Asbrthe Southlake-Carroll cross-country champs graduate several seniors, CoachbrLeonard looks ahead to the future. He notes that both teams are returningbrseveral varsity runners: Antigone Archer, Katie Burnham, Taylor Ullman andbrMaddie Keen on the girls team; Connor Hendrickson, Eli Canal and Jacob Picklebron the boys. “I just take it one year at a time and every year is going to bebrdifferent — the team is going to be different.” He goes on to note, “The goalbris going to be the same — It's just striving for excellence, and the team isbrgoing to get it done.”
Leonardbris proud of the team's success, but prouder still of the life-lessons thebrstudent-athletes get: “In order to be a good distance runner, you have to workbrhard. There's no way around it. For a kid to run a 100-meter dash, you'rebreither fast or not. In distance running you can become pretty good if you'rebrwilling to work hard. It's so comparable to life — you're going to have to putbrin the work to be successful.
“Ibrfeel like my job is try to prepare them for the years beyond high school. If Ibrcan teach them about hard-work and dedication, I've done my job.”
Success Breeds Success
Elite 8brCollegiate Signees
Carroll'sbrCross Country teams placed an unprecedented eight collegiate signees duringbrthis year's National Signing Day ceremonies. brThose going on to the next level include;
ShelbybrChapin (Arkansas), Elena Arriaza (Oklahoma), Lauren Berry (Memphis), CourtneybrKriegshauser (Vanderbilt), Joe Sansone (North Carolina), Trevor Gilley (OlebrMiss), Nate Sullivan (Wisconsin), Annie Fillers (Northwestern State).