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Strength by Seniors- Girls' Cross Country Wins 40th Ramble
Girls’ Cross Country spent last season in 2020 without the usual fanfare and competitive schedule. The first four meets were canceled and the season was limited to three competitions: the John Cooper Invitational, a five-team Ramble, and the Houston Private School Championships. The South Zone and SPC championship meets were canceled as well. Also missing were seniors. All the veterans of last year were juniors from the class of 2021. Now they are leading their team as seniors, and the results tell the story as St. John’s convincingly won the 40th Ramble paced by first-time Ramble winner Cici Calhoun ’22. St. John’s finished with 41 points ahead of second-place John Cooper (58). See Athletic.net for the complete team and individual results.
“I’m glad I was able to be here (at the Ramble) and proud of my team for doing super well,” said Calhoun.
“I think that the senior leadership and experience played a part in the win on Saturday,” said Head Coach Rachel Fabre. “Kinkaid was favored and they were missing a couple of people, and there were some people we beat that we have not beaten this year. It’s the nature of this sport and we are rolling towards the finish line intact-both mentally and physically healthy, strong, and confident. Each week we are checking the boxes, but we’re not quite there yet.”
The Mavericks’ success is due in part to the work they are putting into practice and extra strength training. The seniors are also supportive of the younger runners. They are three weeks out from SPC and plan to make the most of their time together.
“At the end of last season, the team decided to add more strength days to the current season,” said Fabre. “I think they have been such a consistent group all year. The entire team has worked well together. We have also had our largest numbers at practice, willing to work hard, and continue to ask the coaches for more strength days to be added.”
On October 23rd St. John’s will travel to St. Andrew’s of Austin for the SPC South Zone championships, their only meet before SPC in Dallas on November 6. According to Fabre, it will be a bit of a preview for SPC with many talented runners at the meet including a strong Maverick team led by 11 seniors: Rebecca Bollich ’22, Michelle Cai ’22, Cici Calhoun ’22, Maria Cheng ’22, Sarah Clark ’22, Ellie Eikenburg ’22, Ava Hicks ’22, Anahi Marquez ’22, Caroline Thames ’22, Sophie Trammell ’22, and Chloe Zhao ’22.
Sam Chambers- Athletic News
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