Cross Country Takes Tenth Consecutive Boys Region Championship

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By Mark Oftedal, Head Coach

The 2022 Rowland Hall cross country running season presented our team members challenges and opportunities for growth—as all seasons should. But this year’s challenges seemed more pronounced than in the past. One runner was trying to sort out an injury so they could get on with an otherwise ready-to-break-some-records season. Another was still recovering from a major setback experienced last spring. Another arrived the first day with jaw-dropping newfound fitness gained over the summer months, only to be tested in other ways throughout the months ahead. And then there were others that were visited by what seems to be perennial and season-lasting bouts of low-leg revolt.

In all cases, each and every one of these team members—and they know who they are—had much to be proud of at season’s end. Not one of them took an easy route to try to wrangle themselves back to training and racing. Not one of them lost hope. And not one of them should end this season thinking they did anything other than their very best throughout! Our coaches are proud to have worked with them and, while sharing in their frustrations and determined efforts to regain their full potential, we admired most their unrelenting fortitude. The traits of gifted, dedicated, and determined athletes are well-rooted within our team.

Our other team members, without surprise, showered support on those faced with these extra challenges, beyond those that are just part of trying to become a better runner at the cross-country distances. The grit exhibited when these few runners tested their ability to race, often knowing the results were not what they knew they were capable of, will remain examples of determination personified for those who knew of the resistant reins holding them back. I wonder how much of a role these exhibits pushed our other varsity-level runners toward the many personal best times achieved near our season’s end.

The most impressive team effort, which harnessed this grit, came in the boys race at our region championships. Seniors Ezra Shilling Rabin, Evan Jahn, Will Cunningham, and Zach Selzman led the effort toward a score of 17 total points (a perfect score is 15), while the future of our boys team was established as juniors Dean Hijjawi and Max Jansen, along with sophomore Eli Hatton, finished in the top 10. That is, our varsity squad of seven captured seven spots within the top 10 to capture our 10th consecutive region championship!

Likewise, the girls team exhibited grit all season long and gave us a glimpse of what lies ahead for the next couple of years as sophomores Kendall Kanarowski, Winston Hoffman, Ruby McMaster, Pia Piccoli, and Erika Prasthofer, along with junior Maddi Stufflebeam, raced to impressive personal-best times in their last two races of the season. And next year, in addition to these returning team members, we’ll look forward to the return of ninth grader Kylie Seamans, who finished her first season with the team often ranking in the top spot until she was beset with an injury near season’s end.

Included in the highlights of this 2022 season was our return to Boise, Idaho, for the 46th Bob Firman Invitational. For the boys team, seniors Will Cunningham and Evan Jahn finished in the top 25 (out of a field of 323 Division II competitors). Sophomores Kendall Kanarowski and Winston Hoffman were our first two girls into the finishing, both posting their fastest times to date on the demanding course. The boys’ performance at region has been mentioned already, and while the team easily took first in the region, we were short coming into the state meet, with our two top finishers at region out of the state race due to injuries. Senior Will Cunningham led our varsity team of five, finishing on the podium in eighth place and helping to secure a fourth-place finish for the team. Sophomore Kendall Kanarowski finished 19th in the team score at state and ran to her best time of the season. Ninth grader Kylie Seamans clinched many early season performances for the girls team, finishing in the top 21 in four of our meets, fifth overall in the All-City Championships, and seventh overall at region.

With winter knocking on our door, I’m still very much looking forward to working with these dedicated athletes once again this spring on the track!

2022 Cross Country Team Award Recipients