When Johann Gonzalez became the new Trinity High School cross country head coach, his first act was to implement a summer training program to improve its fortunes in Class 3A.
“Then we got the news we got bumped down to 2A (this season),” Gonzalez said. “It was a pleasant surprise. It kind of took our conversation to how can we get one, two girls to state to how to get the whole team (to qualify).”
The Blazers are poised to contend for their second team state berth ever at the 2A Fenton Sectional Oct. 29. They compete next at the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Meet Oct. 15 at Lewis University.
On Saturday, the Blazers dominated the Elmwood Park Invitational (48 points), winning by 22 points over Morton.
Trinity put three in the top 10 and six in the top 15 with sophomore Bridget O’Bryan (6th, 19:25.7 for 3.0 miles), juniors Hailey Hansen (8th, 19:36.8), Emma Creviston (9th, 19:46.5) and Alyssa Jimenez (11th, 19:49.8), sophomores Hannah Roberts (14th, 20:14.1) and Catherine Doyle (15th, 20:26.0) and junior Grace Brown (39th, 21:25.7).
Trinity also won invites at Elmwood Park Aug. 23 and Lake Forest Academy Sept. 27. Hansen took first in both races.
“They’re excited. What’s nice is from the beginning of the season they were kind of tense about their performance,” Gonzalez said. “Since Lake Forest, you see them developing a little more confidence. They’ve taken meets into stride and are thinking about the big picture.”
The Blazers have been as high as No. 21 in the DyeStat 2A state rankings and currently have only three teams ranked ahead of them in their sectional field (Northside Prep, Payton and Latin). Senior Sara Doyle is the lone remaining competitor from the 2013 25th-place 2A state team.
Last season, Hansen missed being the last individual state qualifier at 3A sectionals by one place but went on to be an all-state fifth in 2A track for the 3,200-meter run.
Gonzalez was an assistant track coach and worked with all of his current top-five runners, but Creviston and Roberts had their seasons cut short by stress fractures. He also realized O’Bryan’s distance potential as she entered summer running.
“Not a surprise at all. Her mileage went way up and she was running with Haley,” Gonzalez said. “It makes it nice to have a training partner (for Hansen. Hailey) sees Bridget and she sees that she’s still going. It kind of pushes her to give it her all, too.”
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