Wantagh Girls Cross Country Has Successful 2010 Campaign

When it comes to the endurance, drive, and discipline required of the long-distance runner, few schools in Nassau County can stand toe-to-toe with the Wantagh Lady Warriors.

The  varsity girls cross country  team impressively finished out their regular season undefeated, something head coach Bill Hedgecock is quite proud of.

"In dual meets were 13-0," he said. "We won the conference...we had seven girls in the top 15. That qualified us for the county meet, and we came in second overall."

The county meet would qualify one Wantagh runner, Liz Stirling, for the state championships. However it would also mark the Warriors' first loss of the season, to North Shore high school, who would go on to win the state title.

In comparison, last year Wantagh had won the county championship and placed fifth in state. Despite feeling that his team was better overall this year, Hedgecock attributes this placing to North Shore's change from a B school to an A, referring to the new ranking system in place for the overall population of individual school districts.

"Some kids must have moved into their school district, and they became a bigger school," he said. "North Shore won B last year."

Hedgecock discussed out several standouts on his team this past season including All-County performers Liz Stirling, Shaylyn Stehl, and Jaime Wonzolack. Stehl was on the team for five years and posted a near perfect record of 64-1.

"There's 56 schools in Nassau County running cross country and only 21 girls make All-County, so that's significant," he said.

Hedgecock predicts that next year should be Wantagh's biggest yet when it comes to running.

"Our number one kid from last year, Kayleigh Craig, tore her ACL playing lacrosse last spring," he said. "She'll be back next year, and we have a number of good young kids."

One of those 'good young kids' is Liz Stirling, a junior and sole member of the team to make it to the state championships this year, placing 49th out of 150 contestants in the 5K (3.1 miles).

What's especially noteworthy about this achievement is that this was Stirling first year doing cross country after competing in soccer and track last year. "In track, she ran the 1,500 in 5:01, which is amazing," said Hedgecock. "I encouraged her to run cross country, and she did, and she had a very good year."

"I expect her to improve even more next year," he added. "Half of this season she was still figuring it out, but she ended being out number one kid for the last six meets we had."

For Stirling, making the transition from soccer and track to cross country was difficult.

"For the summer, the training was a lot harder," she said. "You had to run a lot of miles instead of sprints. A lot of different distance running drills."

Running cross country also meant leaving soccer behind, but Stirling feels that it was a good decision in regards to her future.

"I love playing soccer, because a lot of my friends play too," she said. "But I thought it would be a better choice because I want to run track in college and cross country can really help your track times."

Stirling was honored at being her school's representative at the state championships, where she did Wantagh proud in a very competitive run.

"It was a really great experience," she said. "I didn't expect it at all, very exciting, but very different because I didn't have my team there with me."

Stirling is determined to make next year's season of cross country her best yet.

"In the beginning of this season I was still getting used to the races," she said. "I hope that next year I can start off stronger so my times can get faster."

Despite long distance running ultimately being done alone, Stirling credits her teammates and her coach for her success thus far. "I think that the team a lot closer than in most of the other sports," she said. "And coach Hedgecock is awesome...he really inspires us to run our best."