CHS honors cross country teams
Chester High School Cross Country runners were honored Tuesday at a banquet and awards ceremony hosted by the CHS coaching staff at Reids' Harvest House.
Following the meal, Gilpin began the awards portion of the evening. The Yellow Jacket boys were recognized first and each athlete received individual accolades, as well as personal awards.
Freshmen runners earning numbers included Ronin Doiron and Chris Schwier, while sophomore Jakob Cushman earned a letter and his sophomore patch for his letter jacket as recognition for his efforts during the season.
The squad was rounded out by four juniors - Lance Bohnert, Mitchell Colonel, Joe Soellner and Josh Haberberger - as there were no seniors this year. All juniors earned a pin for their jackets.
"These boys worked very hard this year and reported increasingly better times each meet throughout the season," said Their work ethic was exceptional and they improved each meet and strived to do better as the season progressed."
The Lady Jacket runners included three freshmen (Jocelyn Landeros, Addie Blechle and Avery Runge), two sophomores (Elizabeth Soellner and Shea Petrowske), two juniors (Taylor Dunning and Jessica Kattenbraker) and one senior (Ellen Blechle).
Blechle was known for her leadership on the squad and for her willingness to work hard and compete in spite of continuously nagging medical problems throughout her four years as a runner at CHS.
Gilpin noted that the season started with a goal of merely making it through one meet at a time, later winning the Black Diamond Conference meet.
The Lady Jackets then advanced out of the Chester Regional as a team and got the idea that they "could" grab the fifth spot at the Edwardsville Sectional.
The Lady Jackets did just that and earned the right to advance to the IHSA State Meet in Peoria, becoming the first CHS girls' team to advance to State since 1989.
"I was very proud of this very young team and almost every one of the runners had personal-best times," Gilpin said. "They work hard and hope to return again next year."
The boys "Most Improved" award was earned by Cushman.
"Jakob consistently dropped his times all season," Gilpin said. "He was one of our hardest workers and improved throughout the year."
The girls "Most Improved" runner was Addie Blechle.
"Addie's beginning times at the early part of the season were not what they should have been," Gilpin said. "I had to have a good talk with her and I told her that she should be doing better.
"About mid-season at the Benton Meet she finally realized that she could do better. Something clicked and she started running better."
The "Rookie of the Year" award was earned by Runge.
"Avery was our best scorer or runner of the freshman class," Gilpin said. "She consistently finished second or third in every race throughout the year and she was a hard-working athlete."
Gilpin announced that Doiron was the boys' MVP for the Yellow Jacket squad.
"Ronin had the best times of anyone on the boys' team," Gilpin said. "In cross country the runner with the least number of points is the best and Ronin consistently finished either first or second among the Chester boys at most races."
Gilpin then had to take some time to announce the girls' MVP award, which went to both Taylor Dunning and Jessica Kattenbraker.
"Our top-two runners were so close that it was very difficult to select the winner of this award," Gilpin said. "Both always finished either first or second among our girls' team and they were both very good team leaders.
"Both were very vocal on the team both from a leadership perspective and from a cheerleader-type of perspective and both set good examples for all of the girls and they both had excellent work ethics."
In closing, Gilpin thanked assistant coaches Paul and Mary Stallman for all of their dedication and hard work throughout the year.
He further thanked Miriam Hall, the Stallmans granddaughter, for her assistance with meets throughout the season.
"Compared to other sports that have a lot more parents that could be involved, our cross country parents proportionately give much more help and assistance to our team," Paul Stallman said. "We really appreciate them going to meets and for volunteering to help us manage our home meets."
Mary Stallman was also praised for all of her devotion and dedication to the team.
"I am training our granddaughter, Miriam, to learn the computer programs too so she can take over for us down the road," she said. "She is learning the ropes and even did the OVC conference meet by herself this year."