It’s a new year in so many ways for Ottawa cross country.
Most notably, this brings a new leader as Doug Hearn takes over as head coach. He replaces Vince Thompson, who stepped down following many years of service to the OTHS program.
With that new coach, Hearn is hoping to start up a new winning tradition. And although he knows it will take time, he thinks it’s very attainable with hard work and dedication.
“My goal basically is build from one week to the next,”Hearn said. “We won’t always know what to expect, but as long as we continue to move forward, everything will take care of itself. Right now, the kids are doing great. They’re putting in the time and putting in the miles. We want to work toward something that is meaningful.”
It won’t necessarily be easy. Ottawa now enters the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference, which is loaded with state powerhouses.
Sycamore’s boys won the state title in 2007 with Dixon winning it the very next year. Sycamore was fifth in 2008 and 10th in 2009. The Sycamore girls were ninth in 2007.
Maple Park Kaneland’s boys team finished fifth at state last year and eighth two years ago. Yorkville’s girls team was second at state last year with the boys team finishing 10th in 2008 and eighth in 2007.
Still, to compete with the big boys, Hearn has a group with which is a good place to start, featuring 15 girls and 13 boys.
Girls team
The girls unit features a nice corps of six seniors that will provide leadership to a group of seven sophomores and freshmen that hope to be a building block for the future.
Leading the way will be a veteran to the racing scene in Emmy Sakakibara. The senior has been an important piece to the OTHS puzzle the last two years and will be so again this year.
In fact, in her first meet of the year Wednesday in Morris, Sakakibara finished third overall in an 11-team event.
“She attacks the hill when we do hill workouts and sets a great example,” Hearn said. “He’s never complaining. She’s very quiet but very confident in what she can do. She sets a great pace for our girls.”
Sakakibara will be joined by the likes of returning seniors Kendra Brenbarger, Bri Vogel, Peyton Magnafici and Amber Weitzel. Fellow senior Alex Ortiz, a state qualifier in the track sprint events, also is running cross country this year and had a terrific first meet, finishing seventh overall.
“She’s really a great competitor and is going to be a good one for us throughout the year,” Hearn said.
Emily Janis is another solid returner for the Pirates and will join Kelcie Rombach as the team’s juniors. Sophomores Haley Harsted, Hillary Hon, Kelli Nelson and Jade Novak all show promise.
Freshmen Megan Cameron, Lauren Lennox and Megan Ward also are out for the sport. Some of the sophomores and freshmen already have shown plenty of promise, as they led Ottawa to a second-place finish in the junior varsity competition of Wednesday’s meet.
Ward was eighth overall and Harsted ninth. Lennox also medaled in 12th place while Hon just missed a medal in 16th place.
“I think our girls will be pretty competitive,” Hearn said. “We’ve got some nice kids and some hard workers. We have some kids who have run track, and some who have never done this before. It’s a good, solid group.”
Boys team
While the OTHS boys team is a bit smaller — there are 13 out for the sport in total — there is plenty of reason for optimism, including three seniors and two juniors.
T.J. Draper is a senior and a newcomer to the team, but had a great first race, finishing 16th overall for a medal. He’ll be joined by fellow seniors Eddie Weber and Joaquin Santoy.
Junior Matthew Manau has been a strong contributor for the Pirates in each of his first two seasons and will be again. He was 18th overall in Wednesday’s meet as Ottawa finished ninth out of 11 schools.
“Ithink those two worked well together,”Hearn said of Draper and Manau. “I think T.J. surprised himself a little bit. He was a pleasant surprise to me. And Manau has been around the sport. He knows how to put on the miles.”
Junior Thomas Wolfe also will provide some experience for Ottawa. Sophomores Logan Meyer, Adam Frick, Wyatt Mach and Alex Thompson will receive plenty of opportunities. Freshmen Ken Armstrong, Trevor Buhr, Joe Daebelliehn and Colin Vandervort also are hoping to contribute.
Much like the girls unit, the underclassmen on the boys side also had a great start, finishing third out of 10 teams. That included an eighth-place finish for Mach and a 16th-place finish for Armstrong.
“Today was really good because not even I was sure how we were going to do today,” Hearn said. “It’s all new to me. But we had a great start, and hopefully it continues.”
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