West Newsmagazine 9-26-18

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September 26, 2018
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
I SPORTS I 19
Parkway West girls cross country team off to solid start this season
By WARREN MAYES
The Parkway West girls cross country
team is off and running this fall.
The Longhorns, under veteran coach
Charlie Cutelli, has a veteran squad to
work with and have won their first three
meets of the season.
“We return five of our seven varsity runners
from the state team [No. 6 in Class 4]
last year,” Cutelli said. “We have over 40
girls on the team. It is a solid group that is
working hard day in and day out.”
There are four team captains: seniors
Soutane Oliver, Chloe Hershenow and
Claire Smout and junior Laura Rein.
The Parkway Quad was held at Parkway
Central. The Longhorns recorded a perfect
score by placing one through for a score of
15. The medalist was Hershenow.
“It was a great way to begin the season,”
Cutelli said. “It was hot out and the Parkway
Central course has been revamped and
it is quite the bear. We like tough courses
so it was a great way to start the season.”
The girls also competed in the rugged
Memphis Twilight. That race draws teams
from around the Midwest and South to
compete. There were 43 varsity teams
competing for the team title.
It was Parkway West’s first time to travel
and compete in the Tennessee race.
“We felt like we had a shot at competing
for the team title, although we felt
like no one else there really knew who
we were or considered us contenders,
which was fine by us,” Cutelli said.
Parkway West won the varsity meet
with 106 points, beating out powerhouse
Bentonville [Arkansas] High by
10 points. The JV squad came in second.
Hershenow placed ninth with a time
of 19 minutes, 26.83 seconds. Smout
came in 21st in 20.09.27. Sophomore Leah
Selm was 28th in 20.18.97, just ahead of
sophomore teammate Emily Sipp’s 29thplace
time of 20.21.61. Junior Emma
Caplinger was 31st in 20:26.36. Senior
Natalie Butler came in 104th in 21.51.78.
Rein was 142nd in 22.35.04.
There were 344 runners competing in the
race.
“It was a good experience in walking
into something not really knowing what
to expect,” Cutelli said. “The girls were
excited to win. It was a good feather in the
cap for them. To know that the work they
have put in over the summer was paying off.
“There were some girls from other teams
who were a little shocked when the final
scores came out. Who is Parkway West was
heard and I think we answered that well.”
Members of the Parkway West girls cross country team
at the Stan Nelson Invitational, which they won.
[John Wilson photo]
Winning the annual Stan Nelson Invitational
held at Northwest has become old
hat to the Lady Longhorns.
Parkway Wes won the Stan Nelson in
2015, 2016, 2017 and now again in 2018
so the streak is up to four.
The Longhorns won with 30 points. Marquette
was second with 51.
“Stan Nelson was a great meet,” Cutelli
said. “It was super muddy due to the hurricane
remnants that swept through. It was a
perfect example of why you should race to
compete and not worry about splits, times
and the like. Everyone was going to run
slow because of the conditions.
“I was told by some parents they thought
it was worse than Tough Mudders they had
competed in.”
The girls likely won’t forget the race.
“As coach Glenn from Northwest
said, this will be a meet your kids will
remember 20 years from now,” Cutelli
said. “I think that summarized the day.
The girls ran well but Marquette and
Kirkwood were hot on our heels. Both
of those programs have great kids and
great coaches so I know come conference
and districts there will be some
battling up front.”
Hershenow came in third in 22:59.67
while Smout was fourth in 23:14.26,
Selm was fifth in 23:19.29. Caplinger was
eighth in 23:33.73 and Emily Sipp was
12th in 23:41.24. Freshman Kate Yates was
18th in 24:22.88.
“Everyone finished and that was the goal,”
Cutelli said. “There were no personal
bests due to the conditions. But everyone
grinded [sic] and did well.”
Cutelli is pleased with how his girls are
performing and is looking forward to what
the team can achieve.
“The start of the season has been great for
us thus far,” Cutelli said. “We are excited
to see what the rest of the season has in
store for us. Our mantra is we do what we
do. Hopefully, we can continue that into
October and early November.”
The Longhorns will host the Parkway
West Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 29.
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