St. Ignatius's The Eye: Volume LXXIX Number II

The St. Ignatius Cross Country Team is off to a fast start in what promises to be the most successful season in recent memory. A new coaching staff, headed by Dr. Mike Gallagher ’71, and including Ignatius alums Tom Maloney, Dr. Thom Yantek, and Mike Strauss, has revitalized the program. Their dedication and hard work has clearly rubbed off on the team. Evidence for this can be seen in that; although, mandatory practices did not begin until early August, many Wildcat harriers began their training as early as last December, braving subzero temperatures and Pete Surracey. This dedication has clearly paid off, as the team has won its first three races of the season, and has already defeated four state-ranked teams. The impressive streak began with a victory in the George Clements Invitational at University School on August 28th, and continued at the Avon Lake Earlybird Invitational on the LCCC campus, where senior captain Pat Sovacool led the ‘Cats with a first-place finish. After these impressive victories, St. Ignatius was ranked third in the state, behind only Mr. Corrigan’s beloved St. X and Middletown. The following week, St. Ignatius left no doubt that it was “for real” by winning the Tiffin Cross Country Carnival, one of the largest meets in the Midwest. Led by a strong top three of Sovacool (11th, 16:05), Junior Ken Sullivan (14th, 16:10), and sophomore Brian Gallagher (28th, 16:34), and with personal bests also accomplished by senior captains Steve Sullivan and Kevin Schumacher (17:06 and 17:11, respectively), the team had a banner day. Sovacool stated, “We just tried to run really fast for a really long time.” A solid group of young runners, including sophomores Christian “Manhood” Gilbertson and Nate Lieb and freshmen Cameron Rhein and Andy Pipak, provides for an extremely stellar squad from top to bottom. The Wildcats look to finish high on the podium at Scioto Downs on November 6th.