(Chelsea Update would like to thank Pat Clarke for the information in this story.)
Coach Pat Clarke returns for his 47th year of coaching cross-country in Chelsea by greeting a very young, but talented group of 24 runners.
“We lost of our top 4 of our top nine girls from last year’s team,” said Clarke when describing this year’s prospects. “We lost two fine senior runners due to graduation, and two veteran all league runners, but we are filling up the talent bin with some promising young runners. Last year’s team was SEC Champions.
“We could be as good as last year, but how much better is the question?” Clarke said. “Right now, we are working hard to become better runners and we are bonding well as a team.”
Leading the group of returnees are senior captains; Caroline Hirth and Sydney Matusik. Hirth was an all-League runner in 2016. Matusik was an all-league runner in track.
These two young women should provide us with some excellent leadership on the team, Clarke said. Other seniors to be counted on are Leah Pifer and Zoe Steigerwald.
The junior class has a very talented group of veterans in Allison Hughes, Sydney Barnes, Caitlin Dusenbury, Katherine Eckland, Natalie Gofton, Allison Hause, Alayna Seaburg, Emily Strzyzewski, and Jacqueline Taylor. Allison Hughes was an all-League runner last season. Allison has put in the best summer of training of her career and should be a factor in every race that she runs. The juniors as a group should give us some much-needed maturity to help the younger runners.
In the sophomore class, we have a talented class that has a lot of potential. The sophomores are: Mallery Bee, Emily Chizek, Thea Higgins, Morgan Kurth, Miranda Montoye, and Hailey Neal. Morgan Kurth was All-league last season. This group of veteran sophomores will also lend a great amount of experience to the team.
This group is a hard-working bunch who will improve drastically as the season progresses and make serious contributions to the team before the season, the coach said.
Finally, we have a very fine group of freshmen whose talent is deep and their attitude is great. The freshman are: Natalie Davies, Sarah Kennings, Andrea Kowalski, Karly Nickel, and Riley Thorburn. Kowalski and Thorburn were the leading runners in the middle school for the past two years.
This year in the SEC White Division, (which includes Adrian, Dexter, Lincoln, Tecumseh and newcomer Pinckney), Pinckney will be a heavy favorite to win. The Pirates were 5th in the state in Division 1 and return almost their entire squad. Always talented Dexter will again be very strong. They return 7 of their top 9 runners and they have an outstanding group of middle school runners coming up this year. They have 3 all-league performers returning.
Adrian will field a solid team as usual. They were 13th in the state last year. They return their top three runners from last year.
Tecumseh will field a strong team. They lost their top runner, but they return everyone else.
Lincoln is rebuilding this year, but they should field a competitive team. They return one all-league runner.
This year we will go to the regional at Lake Erie Metropark hosted by Woodhaven. There will be at least 5 of the top 30 teams in the state there.
The Chelsea girls are eager to prove themselves this season. This team is one of the hardest working groups that Chelsea has had, the coach said.
The girls are working hard and coming together as a team. If they continue to improve and get mentally tough they should make their presence felt in any meet they run in.
“We are working hard and I really like this team’s attitude. I’m excited by the possibilities this season promises. We are young team that must remain focused on our goals and keep the end of the season in mind. Improvement has to be foremost in our thoughts. We have talent, and we must work on the team concept of running. After that, we’ll try to avoid injuries, and see how the season unfolds, Clarke said.
