SPASH boys, girls cross country win at state By TYLER DRUMMOND of The Gazette The Stevens Point Area Senior High (SPASH) boys cross country team has just finished off an impressive year by winning their first state championship since 1998. "From day one, these boys wanted to be state champions, and it's great to see we've accomplished it," said head boys coach Donn Behnke. The SPASH boys won the state championship, despite running the first 1 1/4 miles of the race ugly. "I've never seen an uglier beginning to a state race. At the 1 1/4-mile mark we didn't have any runners in the top 70," said Behnke. The two-mile point is when things started to turn around for the Panthers. "At two miles the boys knew they were on the pace they had to be on to win and that really inspired them," said Behnke. "I knew if they ran the times they had to, the points would fall into place, and that's what happened." The last mile was a huge team effort for SPASH, with Panther runners speeding past the competition left and right, none more so than Panther runner Harrison Smith. "That last mile took a huge team effort. They passed bunches of runners even in the last quarter mile of the race," said Behnke. "Harrison had a spectacular day, taking 20 seconds off his personal best time." Even with the Panthers tearing up the track during that last mile, Behnke still had his doubts as to whether his team ran well enough to capture the title. "After the race concluded I was preparing in my mind a speech to lift the guys up after it would be announced that we didn't win. You have to do that as a coach, it's easy to say something for a victory, but you have to think of what to say after a loss to make the season seem meaningful." It came as a pleasant shock to Behnke and company that after a tense 10-minute wait, it was announced that SPASH had beaten Madison West by seven points. SPASH landed a cumulative score of 98 and West had 105, which was followed by Heartland Arrowhead. Behnke gives the majority of the success to the fact that the boys ran a smart overall race. "They didn't let themselves get caught up in the state hype. It's easy to push yourself too hard too fast with seven thousand people cheering at you, but they just stayed focused and ran their race." Another quality this team possessed was that they were not afraid to work hard. "That almost came back to haunt us," said Behnke. "During the last few weeks of the year we had to rest the runners because during the middle of the season they had worked themselves so hard." The Panthers had an especially large void to fill this year as star runner Chris Solinsky had graduated. "We had to make up points elsewhere because we didn't have the lead runner like we did with Chris," said Behnke. Even though Solinsky is a freshman runner at UW-Madison, it's not like he's forgotten about his former teammates. Solinsky placed a call to Behnke's cell phone before the race to talk to the guys and pump them up before the big race. "Chris hasn't forgotten about us," said Behnke. "He still calls in to check on his friends and to see how the team is doing." To repay Solinsky's kindness, members of the Panther team will travel to Waterloo, Iowa to watch Solinsky run in the NCAA track championships on Nov. 24. In a year where the team has been the most important aspect, how do you award your MVP? Easily. The Panthers will be giving the top honor to five of the main runners, setting a precedent. Never have more than two runners won the MVP in a single year. "It's exciting because we've never done this, but on the flip side we needed to ask ourselves how we were going to give out the MVP. How can you say one runner was more important than the others?" said Behnke. The five runners that will be accepting the award are Paul Zdroik, a transfer from Rosholt; Harrison Smith who was instrumental in the state championship; Mickey Katz, who was the pace setter for the Panthers this year and Tommy Winkelman and Luke Langhorst who were two of the top runners. As for Behnke who has completed his 27th year as head coach, it's the thrill of running that keeps bringing him back. "I'm a die-hard runner and I love being around the young guys that love to run," said Behnke. "Seeing the look on those guys faces when they cross the finish line, knowing they just ran their heart out, is awesome." In an age when the word "I" is starting to take over and dominate athletics, the Panthers have shown what "we" can still do. "The whole year it's been 'we,' it hasn't been 'I.' We won a state championship, and everyone, even the guys who didn't run, played a crucial role on this team. I'm really proud of the concept and I'm proud that we did it together," said Behnke. * * * The second time is oh so much sweeter than the first for the Stevens Point Area Senior High (SPASH) girls cross country team. The team capped off an incredible year with its second consecutive state championship on Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Ridges in Wisconsin Rapids. "This one is really awesome, because we had to work hard for it," said head coach Mike Olson. Last year, the girls were undefeated and were expected to win state. "It was like a fairy tale with no bumps in the road," said Olson. This year, however, was different. SPASH started the year with a third-place finish, shocking the girls, and ending their undefeated season before it even began. "I think that's what really motivated the girls to work harder, knowing we weren't going to be handed anything." That motivation led those girls to a cumulative score of 84 in the state meet, a whopping 37 points better than the second place team, Watertown. "We ran against some stiff competition but we really took it to them," said Olson. Here's the way the runners for SPASH placed: Coming in 11th overall was Emma Tauchman. "Emma equaled her best time ever at state this year. She was hampered early in the season with a hip injury that's still nagging her now, so she was a bit tentative for some of the races, but she really gave it everything for the state meet," said Olson. Kara Tauchman, her twin sister, came in next for the Panthers and 29th overall. "If Emma is the best runner, then Kara is the heart and soul of this team. Her early work in races sets up the rest of the girls in the later stages of the race," said Olson. Next to finish was Kelly Shaw who finished 34th. "Kelly ran track last year and was a quarter-mile sprinter. In her first varsity meet she finished just a few seconds behind Emma, she's really been a god send for us this year," said Olson. Zoe Browne finished next at 36th overall. "Zoe has been our most consistent runner for us all year. She always gives us a great effort," said Olson. Jenny Groshek then followed at 37th overall. "Jenny knows what it takes to win. She was very focused and it was awesome to see her run," said Olson. Other runners for the Panthers were Liz Hunter who finished 110th and Janet Yockers who finished 122nd. "Both Liz and Janet are freshmen and they've both given outstanding effort," said Olson. Unlike their counterparts, the boys, when the girls ran their race, they stormed out of the gates and took control of the race early. "For us it was just another day at the office," said Olson. In fact, Olson was amazed with how calm and collected his team was before they ran the race. "It was amazing to see how focused they were." Traditionally, SPASH has been a dominant girls cross country program, making the state tournament all but three years since 1980. Olson credits the consistent success to the junior varsity program SPASH has in place. Unlike other high schools in the state, seventh- and eighth-grade cross country runners travel with the high school teams, but run in a separate race. In fact, the Saturday after every meet SPASH runs in, they have a party to celebrate, which the younger students also attend. "It's really outstanding to see the older kids take the younger kids under their wings and incorporate them into the group," said Olson. With these building blocks in place, SPASH is preparing the next generation of SPASH athletes to perform at a high level. "At least once a year we see a new varsity runner, who ran JV last year, that's surprises us with their outstanding ability." Not trying to overlook this championship, but SPASH is excited for next year as well, as they will have all seven state runners back for one last year. "We are hoping for the same success next year, because we'll have the same nucleus of runners back," said Olson. As for Olson, he's been the head man for the girls since 1980 and has seen his share of outstanding runners, most notably Suzie Favor-Hamilton. "I love my job," says Olson. "It is a lot of fun and it keeps me feeling young." Olson is the first to give credit where credit is due, however and points to his assistant coach Cindy Solinsky as a main reason the team wins. "She's really great with organizational stuff. She does an outstanding job and because of her, it makes my job easier. It's really impossible to find great assistant coaches but she's one of them," said Olson. And so ends the year for the Panthers, not the fairy tale from last year but nothing short of outstanding. "We had flaws this year but we corrected those flaws," says Olson. "In a way, it's much more gratifying, more of a thriller."