Running down a dream

Team chemistry is something that is not easily produced. It must have the right ingredients of competitiveness, selflessness and personalities to work.

The Shelton girls cross country team achieves a near perfect blend of team chemistry, and that has resulted in team and individual success, as well as some lifelong friendships.

The girls team consists of four seniors and one sophomore. The top runner of the group is Alauna Carstens. Carstens has won six races this season, including the Evergreen Conference championships and The Ultimook Race in Tillamook, Oregon. She finished second at the Capital Invite, second at the Salt Creek Invitational and fifth at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational, a meet that features the top runners in the region.

"It's going pretty well," Carstens said. "The girls, we're working well as a team this year and we're actually ranked pretty high in the state. We want to go to state as a team. That was pretty crazy because in past years, I've never been on the podium there like at the Nike invite. I feel like I'm giving it my all for my senior season."

She says her training has consisted of higher mileage this season and in the summer, she was running about 50 miles per week, but she's lowered that to about 40 miles a week during the season.

Carstens enjoys being a part of this cross country team.

"It's just really cool because I feel like other sports don't really have the bond we have," Carstens said. "We're always holding each other accountable and we're all in the same classes so it's just really cool to be around them and have that support."

Ali Clifton is usually right behind Carstens in races. She finished second at the EvCo Championships and at each EvCo meet. She placed seventh at The Ultimook race and Capital Invite, ninth at the Salt Creek Invitational and 23 at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational.

"I feel pretty good, lots of PR (personal record) improvement," Clifton said. "I'm excited, I hope to keep this up in college, been able to push with my teammates a lot and really bond with them in my last year so that's exciting."

The 2020 COVID cross country season was not easy for any sport, but the cross country team was able to keep running in preparation for the regular fall season.

"During COVID, we were able to just keep running in other sports so we would just run year-round and it's definitely helped us this year because we're so much closer, we can motivate each other more and stay together, make strategies. I think it's actually strengthened us."

Clifton said she has improved throughout her prep cross country career not only physically, but also mentally.

"I went from oh, I can't keep up with Alauna to where I'm like, oh, I can, I can get just a little bit faster each race," Clifton said.

The team pushes each other and keeps each other motivated, even on off days.

"Even on their off days, people still find positive words, positive affirmations and we have a group chat to just keep each other motivated and find different ways and I think that's amazing," Clifton said.

Senior Faith Linthicum has finished third at three league meets this season. She placed seventh at the EvCo championships, 15th at the Salt Creek Invitational, 21st at the Capital Invite, 51st at the Ultimook race and 187th at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational.

"It's been really good. We've all been training really hard over the summer, especially into the season and we're all really happy with how well we've been racing," Linthicum said.

She said the hardest thing about training for cross country is being consistent, which means running every day. She said she runs at least six days a week and at least five to six miles each day.

"It was really hard until we started meeting as a team to practice again and we all encouraged each other and that's really when we got into our peak fitness," Linthicum said.

Senior Koralea Roessler has three fifth place finishes and a sixth-place finish in EvCo races and placed 10th at the EvCo championships. She placed 24th at the Salt Creek Invitational, 27th at the Capital Invite, 53rd at the Ultimook race and 215th at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational.

"I feel like we've done really well which to me, was sort of surprising cause I feel like I've always put in a lot of work but I think this year, we upped training a lot and it didn't feel like we were doing a lot more but we were," Roessler said. "It just became easier. I feel like I've had a lot of ups and downs, like I've gotten a lot better and, in some races, I've gotten a lot worse. It's been kind of weird but I've been really happy with what we've done."

Koralea said the team has been getting a lot of miles in during training and that is paying off during meets and races but also focusing on recovery and mindset when it comes to cross country.

Coach John Johnson said he has been able to allow the girls to be themselves and is there to facilitate the team when necessary.

"I love my coach, like he's sort of switched up training this year by trying to get us to focus on a good mindset in running and how to take success and achieve it in a mental way," Roessler said. "He also helps a lot in pushing us. We went to this camp over the summer where we read this book about mindfulness and positive mindset and I feel like that helped us a lot. I feel like our coach has been amazing this year."

Last, but certainly not least, is sophomore Lily Bennett. She has placed fourth in four EvCo meets and took eighth at the EvCo championships. Bennett placed 13th at the Capital Invite, 20th at the Salt Creek Invitational, 34th at The Ultimook Race and 155th at the Nike Hole in the Wall Invitational.

"I feel like it's gone really good. We've been just really focusing on becoming closer as a team," Bennett said. "I think the whole team bonding aspect has really helped us do better."

Even though she's the youngest member of the team, Bennett said she never feels like a sophomore with the team.

"They honestly forget that I'm a sophomore sometimes. I joined last year so I've had time to bond with everyone," Bennett said. "I did have a little experience because I started cross country in eighth grade and I was on the first OBJH (Oakland Bay Junior High) team so it felt kind of similar to that because I was used to being in a smaller group but it was nice."

Johnson said the thing that separates this group from others is that they all like each other.

"I stress from day one and it's always been part of our culture here that one of the big things that we want to hopefully achieve here is to have every kid support their teammate and sincerely want each other to do well," Johnson said. "That's what these girls do. They want each other to do well, they like each other. That's really important if you're going to have a good team."

When asked to vote for the funniest player on the team, Linthicum received four votes, including her own.

"She's literally always cracking a joke and whenever I tend to get some serious moments and get nervous, she's always taking everything lightheartedly and just reminding me this sport is all about having fun and that's what counts at the end of the day," Carstens said.

"I just make everyone laugh all the time, you know?," Linthicum said.

When asked to vote on the most competitive, Clifton garnered all the votes but her own.

"She always tries really hard in workouts," Roessler said. "Sometimes I see her wheezing in workouts and I'm like jeez, everyone else is just breathing but she's like wheezing and she's just super competitive in trying to move to the top all the time. From freshman to senior year, she's moved up so much, she was going from like 24 (minute) 5K's to 19 (minutes)."

When asked who is the smartest, Linthicum, the valedictorian, received four votes, including her own.

"She has the highest GPA and she answers a lot of our questions all the time," Bennett said.

When asked what their team goals were this season, the team wanted the same thing: make it to state as a team.

"Last year, we placed third in districts and we're going for second to first and our team as a whole, make it to state," Clifton said. "We did last year and there wasn't a state so we're hoping to go for that again."

Each runner wanted to improve on their personal best times before the end of the season.

For the four seniors, it's going to be sad when the final meet of the season is over.

"It just feels really unreal because I've been with this group, I trained with the high schoolers when I was in middle school so it just feels like I've been on this team forever," Carstens said. "Like coach (Johnson), I put all this trust in him and the training and it's just really sad for me to be leaving."

All four seniors are looking to compete in cross country in college and coach Johnson said there are opportunities for runners if they're willing to move away from home.

"For me, if I have a kid when they leave high school that they're still excited about the sport and doing the sport as part of a team, we feel pretty good about that because that means they still love it enough to keep wanting to do it. On the flip side, a kid going to college, it's tough to be a freshman in college, everyone that's done it knows it's a difficult transition especially if you're moving away from home. It's wonderful to have a track team and a cross country team that you're right in with. I'm biased but track kids and cross country kids are awesome."

It may not be the end of their time running cross country together. Roessler and Clifton are looking at Western Oregon University. Carstens said she has offers from Saint Martins and is on the recruit list for Portland State. Linthicum is looking at Northwest University.

"We have four seniors and most of us are hoping to stay in Oregon and Washington so we might go on to see each other again," Clifton said. "That's what I'm hoping for."

Lily will be a junior next year and she hopes to recruit some girls to join the team next year.

"I have been thinking about it, I'm kind of nervous," Bennett said. "I just hope that more girls will be inspired to join and me and Sarah Lowe, our coaches' daughter, she also helps out a lot, really want to focus on getting more girls interested in it."

All five girls will be competing in track, so they still get to be on one more team together running down a dream before the seniors say goodbye.

"I feel like it's really sad that I'm leaving all of them because I've been with them so long and I'm really going to miss them," Roessler said. "I think we'll stay in touch."

Author Bio

Matt Baide, Reporter

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
Email: [email protected]

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