Magnificat High School - Magnifier Yearbook (Rocky River, OH)

Page 54 text:

1983 Cross Country MHS OPPONENT 32 26 Avon Lake 26 32 Bay 29 35 Elyria High 15 76 Sandusky 15 80 Admiral King 30 55 Elyria Cath. 30 57 Lakewood 35 20 Hudson 35 125 St. Joseph 35 120 St. Augustine 3rd of 14 Avon Invit. 3rd of 15 Firestone In. 2nd of 8 Dick Scott In. 1st of 9 All-Cath. In. 3rd of 9 Cloverleaf In. 2nd of 9 Wadsworth In. 3rd of 10 Coaches Classic 1st of 15 LCCC Invit. 1st of 8 All-Catholic 2nd of 12 Hilltopper In. 1st of 13 Sectionals 6th of 16 Districts 10th of 16 State Final Record: 125-27 Greater Cleveland Catholic Girls Athletic Conference Champions Sectionals Champions State Qualifiers Mr. Tom Crowley steps back to take a picture. The twins’ fa¬ ther gave each girl pic¬ tures of herself and newspaper clippings. Photo by M. Probst. 50 CROSS COUNTRY

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A trip to Columbus left the team tenth Among the best August 15, 1983 Cross country started again. The smell of Ben Gay was all over my hands. It was great see¬ ing everyone today, es¬ pecially Coach Betty. Our workout wasn’t too bad, but we could all tell that it was going to be a long, hard season. After our six-mile road run, we all studied the schedule and laughed when we got down to our last meet on November 5. That’s the date of the State meet in Columbus. Every year Coach Betty puts it on our schedule, but we never make it that far. Oh well, maybe this year will be different September 3, 1983 Today was our first invitational of the season. We all ran well and came in 3rd overall. Not bad for our first meet. Everyone was so nervous, even Coach Betty, but we came out okay. September 22, 1983 I’m so happy! In this week’s sports section we were rated fifth in the entire area of northeast Ohio. We showed every¬ body why today. We had our conference meet at Notre Dame Academy and we won! We were first time conference champs. The weather was rainy and cold, and the hill we had to climb seemed unending, but we came out on top. Coach Betty was so happy, and we were all pretty happy ourselves. October 1, 1983 We have a problem. The whole team is suffer¬ ing from the “mid-season blues.” We are all so tired, loaded down with homework, still trying to do our best in practices, and most importantly in the meets. Coach Betty told us, “It’s up to you, girls. I can stand up here forever and tell you what you have to do, but you are the ones running those meets. And most of all, you are the ones — the only ones — who can give yo urselves the chance to go where you all deserve to go.” She’s right. We only have one more month till it’s all over. We’ve got to get our spirits up and get psyched for what lies ahead of us beyond the regular season. October 8, 1983 We’re all cured! No more “mid-season blues.” Today proved it. We ran the LCCC Invitational against fifteen other schools, and we won! Not Avon Lake, not Elyria Catholic, and not Lakewood, but us. We were so excited. The awards assembly was the highlight of the whole (continued on page 51) The safety of her runner utmost in her mind, Mrs. Shirley Doyle tapes an an¬ kle. Mrs. Doyle was named Sun Papers Coach of the Year. Photo by M. Tucek. With the finish line just ahead of her, Beth Crowley ’85 sprints the end of the State meet. Beth placed 34th out of the 112 runners competing. Photo by D. Fiori. CROSS COUNTRY 49

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m f J A send-off Is an easy run for Amy Mather ’87, Julie Chinnock ’87, Renee Marcia ’86, and the rest of the cross country team. The send off was a surprise for the runners just before they left for Columbus. When they were told about it, the girls only expected to be greeted by a few people. They were shocked when everyone left homeroom to line up in the halls. Photo by A. Sheridan. The nickname of Pac Runners is displayed on a sign decorating the Colum¬ bus-bound “Betty Bus.’’ Monica Rogozinski ’85 made the sign with the names of the runners head¬ ed for the State meet. The nickname came from the video game, and the Blue Streaks tried to “eat up’’ their opponents by passing them. Photo by A. Sheri¬ dan. the best (continued from page 49) day. When the varsity seven went up to get the first place trophy, the team received standing ovations from both Lake- wood and St. Ignatius. It was the best ever! October 22, 1983 As the saying goes, one down and one to go. Today was great. The weather? Actually that was terrible. The hill was a complete mudslide, and it was wet and very cold. We were so nervous, but we all ran our hardest. And it paid off. We won our Sectionals! Since we had all decided that Delirious is this season’s theme song, we put it on Crowleys’ “box” and danced in front of all those people. But we didn’t care. We were Sectionals champs and on our way to Districts! A run-OUt before the Dis¬ tricts race is a necessary warm-up for Sharon Byrnes ’84 and Judy Crowley ’85. Both runners went to State. Photo by M. Tucek. October 29, 1983 We are now the first State-bound cross country team from Magnificat. We had to finish in the top seven in Districts, and we came in 6th. Then we really got delirious. November 4-5, 1983 It’s been a long week, but a half day of school made it a lot better. All eight of us met in the gym. Then we had a send-off from the whole school. It was great but a little embarrassing. No¬ body really cared. We were on our way to State. The next morning went slowly. We went to breakfast first and then stretched at the hotel. After that we were in the fully-decorated Betty Bus and on our way to the race. As soon as we got there, all our faithful friends and fans greeted us and wished us good luck. After we each made our twentieth trip to the bathroom, double-tied our spikes, and made sure our numbers were pinned on correctly, we went to the line. Our stomachs were in knots, and were we ever nervous. After the pre¬ race talk by the official came the yell of “sweats off.” We were very cold, but our spirits were hot and ready to run. We took one more run-out and said another Hail Mary. We were at State. We had made it. “Runners set . . . Go!” Well, we got 10th at State, and everyone had her best time ever. Yes, dreams can and do come true.® —Sharon Byrnes CROSS COUNTRY 51