The Seaholm girls cross country team ended their season finishing fourth in the state, the best finish in Seaholm cross country history.
Junior Aubrey Wilberding led the team with an 11th place finish and a time of 18:23.The top 12 finish gave Wilberding All-State honors for the first time in her career.
“I had no idea I would be able to finish so well,” Aubrey Wilberding said. “I ended up dropping 20 seconds so my place was a really nice surprise.”
Freshmen Julia Demko and Audrey Belf finished 35th and 36th, respectively.
The Maples had to overcome some adversity and still managed to finish as a top five team in the state.
“A few of our girls didn’t have the races they wanted to run,” Head Coach Jeff Devantier said. “We still managed to finish fourth in the state.”
Junior Mallory Wilberding took a tumble at the first 400 meter mark after she was tripped. She then continued to run the race with a mild concussion and ended the day with a time of 20:18.
“I tripped and hit my head and was running with a concussion,” Mallory Wilberding said. “I was very dizzy and threw up.”
Junior Kendall Weinert, who had been dealing with a stress fracture in her foot for most of the summer, had the best run of the season and finished with a time of 19:53.
“[The race] was definitely good considering the circumstances that came about [on race day],” Mallory Wilberding said.
Expectations for next season are elevated after a solid 2011 campaign.
“Next year can be even better,” Devantier said. “All of the varsity runners come back and the younger girls will develop into better runners.”
Belf, Demko, Weinert, junior Selena Wallace, Mallory, Aubrey, and Tess Wilberding will all be back next season. All seven girls were the top runners for this year’s team.
The boys cross country team only had one runner qualify for the state finals. Senior Zack Demko finished 42nd in the state with a time of 16:14.
“It stinks super bad that we didn’t get the team out to the state meet,” Demko said. “But next year’s team will be totally sick.”
