The Westside girls cross country team had a great race at their meet this past Thursday at Seward. The Warriors are getting better and faster every race and have a few individuals who are cutting down their times by a lot. Sophomore, Caitlin Steliga, led the warrior pack at this race with a finishing time of 21:29.13. This was a great race for Steliga, crushing her previous pr by 21.49 seconds.
“I’m proud to be able to lead our team, everyone works so hard and it’s fun to be able to see that work pay off during races.” Steliga said.
The Warriors had their first meet at Papillion La Vista High school on August, 31st and didn’t feel they performed their best. Assistant cross country coach, Jonathan Preister along with other cross country coaches worked with the girls to make sure they ran even better at the Seward race.
“I thought that we made kind of a step in the right direction,” said Preister. “The first week I think the girls were a little disappointed with how they ran and those things.I think this week we kind of worked through some things for the first part of the race and a lot of girls were a lot more satisfied with their results.”
Preister has been coaching cross country for many years now and loves to see the girls improve and grow as runners.
“I think just seeing their improvement and kind of who they become as individuals. That is really really nice to see,” Preister said.
Steliga thinks her teammates helped her perform her best during the race to be the best runner she could be.
“Ellie, Violet and I all push each other to go faster, run better.” Steliga said. “It’s nice to have such a good team support system, so when days get tough you always know that they’ll be there.”
After Steliga finished in the race, right behind her was Ellie Wittmann, Violet Collins, Olive Petersen and Fiona Tobin all finishing seconds apart from each other. Tobin had a great race also crushing her previous pr by 24.31 seconds.
“I was really surprised and very excited because I didn’t know I could drop that much.” Tobin said.
This is her first year running on the cross country team and Tobin loves it.
“My favorite part about cross country is the people and the meets.” Tobin said. “I also really love running with my friends and cheering on my teammates.”
Being a runner on the cross country team takes a lot of mental along with physical strength to push through the end of the races.
“When I get to the middle of my race, I hit a mental block almost every time.” Steliga said. “My brain is telling me to stop, but I know I can’t. I can’t stop because if I did, it would mean that I don’t believe in our team. I know that each one of us can do hard things in life, and by continuing to run we are supporting each other in team and personal goals.”
The girls next race is at Mahoney state park this Thursday and the Warriors will continue to get faster and faster .
Coach Preister has been coaching cross country for many years now and loves to see the girls improve and grow as runners.
“I think just seeing their improvement and kind of who they become as individuals. That is really really nice to see.” Preister said.
