The Panthers. / Photo by: Sue Moss
The Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ cross country team finished the season 2-3.
For the Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ cross country team, it did what it could with what it had.
The Panthers had just 19 runners, but were still able to find some success, posting a 2-3 record.
“Overall, while I was disappointed with the numbers, I was pleased with the performances, effort and attitudes of each member of the team,” said seventh-year head coach Steve George. “As a team, we had only two wins, but almost every girl improved each time out. That adds up to a lot of personal victories.”
W-H beat Plymouth North (19-38) and Duxbury (15-45), but fell to Silver Lake (25-32), Hingham (22-39) and Marshfield (17-46).
“The level of competition in the Patriot League, especially on the girls’ side, is extremely high,” George explained. “Marshfield, Hingham and Silver Lake were all top 20 teams in the state coming into the season. Our kids competed with each of them and lost, not through lack of effort.”
Junior Myah Kamperides was the Panthers’ top runner, legging out two first-place finishes, a second and a third. Kamperides was named a league all-star for the second straight fall and George said she’s only scratching the surface of her potential.
“Myah had enormous success as a sophomore and faced better competition this year and was still an impact Patriot League runner,” George said. “She loves to run. She loves to compete. But our inability to create a consistent strength training program due to the pandemic hurt Myah as it did all our girls in my opinion. We plan to incorporate a great deal of strength training into Myah’s regimen and now, after her second year of distance running, turn it up a notch to get her ready for what I know will be an incredible senior year.”
An indoor track all-star last season, senior Izzy Amado joined the cross country team this fall and provided a big boost, finishing the year as W-H’s No. 2 runner, while earning league all-star status.
“I was pleasantly surprised when Isabelle Amado decided to join the team,” George said. “She has been an excellent track-and-field runner over the years and I always felt that could translate to her becoming an outstanding cross country runner.”
George said the high point of the season was their victory over Duxbury on the road, but not just because of the result.
“Our girls took the top six spots for the win, followed by a classy act on the part of Duxbury which gave carnations to our senior girls and cheered our bus as we left,” George said.
As he looks to the future, George sounds optimistic about his club’s potential.
“I expect Myah to be at the front of the pack again, and she will get some help from [juniors] Anna Flynn and Sara Boulger, who were among our top five most of the season,” George said. “We have some underclassmen with potential certainly, and I was extremely happy with our freshmen who should make an impact in the years to come.”