After the Lincoln East Girls Cross Country team lost three seniors from their 2022 varsity team, the question of whether their shoes could be filled and the everyday culture sustained, was on the minds of runners and coaches alike. Their questions were answered early on in the Spartans 2023 cross country season, and the team’s success continued all the way into championship season.
New team leaders jumped on the opportunity to run on varsity for a 5-time state championship team, and it showed during the state meet on Friday, October 20 at Kearney Country Club in Kearney, NE. Three runners medaled, with senior Mia Murray placing 5th, senior Peyton Svehla placing 6th, and junior Sadie Yager placing 13th.
Living up to high expectations, the Spartans claimed the 2023 State Championship title, becoming 6-time state champions, thanks to the culture within the team and their attention to detail during a tenacious state meet. But what exactly has gone into making this team so successful?
This season was assistant coach Andrew Willis’s sixth year coaching the Spartans, and he attributes the team’s accomplishments to one word: consistency.
“A lot of the things are done the same, year after year, and over time that adds up for the kids and program,” Willis said. “When I’m coaching and watching the races, I notice that our kids look really strong, even in the second half of the race.”
But it’s not just physical strength that makes the Spartans a standout team; it’s their mental strength as well, an important skill in a sport that is 90% mental.
“Races go beyond competing, they are a mental battle just as much,” Yager said. “We were reminded to stay focused on ourselves and our race.”
This season was Yager’s first year running in the state meet, a race in which staying calm and trusting your training is necessary. That’s exactly what Yager did, following the Spartans race plan of going out comfortably hard in the first half of the race, and pushing pace during the second half, a strategy head coach Brian Kabourek commonly refers to as “shifting gears.”
It’s not just the team’s strategies within the race that encourage the girls to persevere. The team bonding that takes place inside and outside of practice reminds the runners they are competing for a shared championship with their teammates and friends.
“Our team goes beyond natural talent,” Yager said. “We are a very closely bonded group. [We] understand how to focus and center our attention when it is necessary, all while having fun. We highly value inclusivity, and are always there to celebrate each other’s victories and to pick each other up!”
The Spartans will return 3 of their top 7 runners for the 2024 season, and are still looking to be a standout Nebraska team due to their junior varsity depth.
