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Season Review: Girls’ cross country coach aims to restore program dominance

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The girls’ cross country team. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Head coach Steve George is hoping the girls’ cross country team’s record starts to improve.

Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ cross country head coach Steve George is hopeful the program can be restored to what it once was. A force.

“When I speak with middle school kids and some of the high school kids who have chosen other sports, I’m disappointed only for the fact that I know there are incredibly gifted runners who won’t be joining us and are missing out on opportunities they can’t comprehend as children,” George said.

Over George’s five years at the helm, runners have gone on to compete at the likes of Bentley, John Hopkins, Lehigh, Tufts and West Point, among others.

While winning consecutive Div. 3 EMass titles again (2011 and 2012) is a long shot, being competitive in league play and finishing above .500 isn’t. It was just three years ago the Panthers went 6-2.

“Until we start attracting young women to this sport it will be difficult to compete with rivals Hingham and Duxbury,” George said.

Two years ago the Panthers concluded the fall at 2-6. Last year they were 3-4. This season they went 3-5.

“[It isn’t] for lack of trying on the part of the coaches or the kids that choose to be part of what I believe to be a truly wonderful experience,” George said.

The Panthers’ three wins came over Plymouth North (26-31 on Sept. 26), Silver Lake (20-43 on Oct. 10) and Scituate (18-44 on Oct. 16).

Junior Tori Boss was a standout for the Panthers and their top runner with a top average time of 21:26. Against Scituate she won, and versus Silver Lake she covered the course in 22:08 for a second-place finish.

“This year she trained hard, followed the plan and, not surprisingly, had great results,” George said. “Her athleticism and work ethic have made her our top runner. Tori runs consistently at the front of the pack in every practice and that has carried over into competition.”

Senior captain Maeve McDonough also put fourth her best season yet with an average time of 21:40 to be W-H’s No. 2 runner.

“Maeve showed enormous dedication,” George said. “Maeve loves distance running and consistently runs double-digit long runs which have helped her become a major contributor to the success of the team.”

Junior Niki Kamperides posted a 21:44 average time, a personal best and good for the Panthers’ No. 3 runner.

“Niki made a big jump this year following a freshman year with a knee injury that also slowed her down in her sophomore year but couldn’t keep her out,” George said. “That experience paid off and she has lowered her 5K time by more than five minutes. A strong and athletic runner.”

George said there were no surprises in terms of his top performers.

“On Day 1 we created training groups with what we thought would be our top 10 in Group 1,” George said. “That group has remained intact the entire season and in the weekly results as well.”

George said the season offered its fair share of excitement.

“We went into the season knowing Hingham, Duxbury, Plymouth North and Plymouth South had some phenomenal runners, so our expectations were not high,” George said. “But our kids’ effort and commitment were rewarded with a good record and some incred- ible times andfinishes.”

Season Preview: Panther cross country teams are warming up

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Both teams at a beginning of the year practice. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Head coach Steve Goerge is expecting the boys’ team to be competitive while he doesn’t know what to expect from the girls’ team just yet.

Personal bests are always key in the sport of cross country. Without shooting for them, you’re doing your team a disservice.

Cross country is also one of the rare sports that celebrates the lowest score, not the highest with a first-place finish yielding one point, a secondplace yielding two and so on.

At Whitman-Hanson Regional High, fifth-year head coach of the boys’ and girls’ teams Steve George is hoping to see his runners flourish thus producing some positive results.

GIRLS’ TEAM

On the girls’ side, senior captain Maeve McDonough will lead the way.

“She’s a surprise,” George said. “When she first came here, one of my better runners said, ‘You won’t find a sweeter kid. She’s not a great runner but you won’t find a sweeter kid.’ Well, she was a sweet kid and right now she’s our top girl runner.”

Runners two through four will be juniors Niki Kamperides, Tori Boss, Tori Carleton and at No. 5 will be senior captain Maeve Rooney.

“She works hard despite the fact that she’s a dancer,” George said of Rooney. “She does Irish step dancing, which to me is as difficult as running is.”

Said Rooney: “I think if I’m doing good, I can motivate others to do good which would result in more wins for the team.”

George said freshmen Anna Flynn and Sarah Boulger have impressed him early on while seniors Dorothy DiMascio-Donohue and Gabbie Trongone figure to factor into some meets.

“I think everyone has a lot of potential and they don’t realize it until they actually start getting serious about it,” McDonough said.

The girls return to the course Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. on the road against league opponent Hanover.

“It’s just a matter of improvement for them,” George said. “I haven’t even thought about wins and losses and that’s never been my criteria for a successful season. I’d like to see a steady improvement over the season.”

BOYS’ TEAM

The boys’ team has “the makings of a very good team”, according to George.

Sophomore Theo Kamperides is the Panthers’ top returning runner and junior Brandon Hager is their second best.

Adam Solari, W-H’s third best returning runner, will captain boys alongside senior Shane Schraut.

“Adam comes from hockey and he’s a tremendous hockey player, strong hockey player,” George said. “He’s well-liked by his teammates. I think the fact that he’s well-liked is going to help him with leadership.

“Shane is on the quiet side and he’s a quiet leader. He’s shown some leadership in and outside of cross country.”

Schraut said the Panthers like to encourage each other regardless of where they stand on the totem pole, which will work to their advantage this season.

“Say one guy is straggling, one guy from behind will tell him to keep going and just keep pushing him to do harder and better,” Schraut said.

Solari echoed Schraut’s views.

“I think if we push each other, we’ll be a really good team,” Solari said.

Juniors Matt Avery, Dylan Burns and Nick Hanley along with , sophomores Matt Butler, Liam Cafferty and Chris MacDonald and freshman Evan Jewett will also make impact for the Panthers, who return to action at Hanover on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m.

“We have the makings of a very good team,” George said. “Perhaps not this year, but next year. One of our captains is a junior and then the next top seven is made up of juniors, sophomores and freshmen.”

Season Review: X-Country stand-outs set bar for future

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Seniors Andrew Newman and Nicole Norve were standouts this cross country season at Whitman-Hanson Regional High.

Another cross country season has crossed the finish line at Whitman-Hanson Regional High. 

Andrew Newman led the way for the boys’ team, which wound up with a 4-3 record. The senior was unbeatable in his first five meets, as he raced to first-place finishes in every single one. He also set four personal records throughout the fall. Steve George, who serves as the head coach for both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams, said Newman is self-motivated, extremely hard working and just loves to run. 

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Andrew Newman / Photo by: Sue Moss

“Andrew’s consistent improvement is a result of his effort over and above what we ask for,” George said. With high school runners, we’d ordinarily see a drop off in performance given the number of miles a runner like Andrew logs each week. We have not seen that in Andrew. He thrives on high mileage.”

Not only did Newman have a season to remember, many of his teammates did as well. Fellow senior captain Jack Ryan finished the fall boasting seven top-five finishes and sophomore Adam Solari improved on his numbers significantly from a year ago, as did classmate Brandon Hager. Freshman newcomers Liam Cafferty, Theo Kamperides, Chris MacDonald and Aiden O’Brien were all welcome sights as well.

Cafferty and Kamperdies ended the season as two of the Panthers’ top-five runners.

“The only rest they’ve had, if you can call it rest, is when they run a shorter distance in the invitational meets,” George said. “Otherwise, they do every workout, every day and it’s paid off for them.”

George said his club’s biggest strength over the past few months was the leadership it received from its captains Alex Uva and Ryan.

“They provide examples of achieving results through determination and effort,”George said. “Coaches provide instruction and structure, but high school athletes are motivated best by their peers and in cross country we have some very good ones in those seniors.”

GIRLS RACE TO 3-4 MARK

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Nicole Norve / Photo by: Sue Moss

The girls’ team, which finished at 3-4, was in a lot of close meets, as three of its losses came by 15 or fewer points. One runner who stood out from the rest was Nicole Norve. The senior captain hustled to a first-place finish in the Panthers’ first five races. Her second-place outings came against Plymouth North on Oct. 17 when she crossed the finish line one second out of the top spot, and on Oct. 24 against Plymouth South when she lost to eventual league MVP Jillian Callaghan by 17 ticks. George said Norve is as fierce as a competitor as there gets.

“She wants to improve every time out and loves a challenge,” George said. “Nicole’s success may stem from the fact that she is strong enough to run hard virtually every day, recover, and do it again the next.”

But it takes more than one runner to be competitive, and W-H had no problem with that. Seniors Julia Cosgrave and Camryn Boyce were about were steady presences all season.

“Julia and Camryn were consistent 2/3 for the team this year,” George said. “I’ll miss both of them next year certainly.”

Coming into the season, one of George’s goals was to have his runners achieve their own milestones, and that came to fruition. Sixteen of the 20 girls established personal records with two of the remaining four out much of the season with injury.

As the Panthers look toward next autumn – when this wave of juniors will be looked upon to carry the load – there is a lot to be excited about.

“Maeve Rooney has steadily improved in each of her three years, while Maeve McDonough has moved into our top 5 with an improvement of three minutes over last year,” George explained. “Dorothy DiMascio-Donohue, an indoor and outdoor sprinter/hurdler who joined cross country this year, scored in nearly every meet this fall.”