Willmar: The Girls Just Want to Have Fun

As the snow continued to fall in Willmar on Monday, the Willmar girls' cross country team was trying to get together all the paperwork for the NXN meet in December.  One of the requirements is that the teams send a team photo. What better way to introduce a team from Minnesota than: "Let's do a photo with us in the snow."  No studio shot for these kids.

After a disappointing outcome at the MSHSL State XC Championships, where they were third, the team went into the NXN Regional meet this year with the confidence that they belonged in contention for a spot in the NXN Nationals.  Last year they didn't even stick around for the awards at the Regionals, instead they were eating lunch after the meet at Taco Bell when they got a call informing them that they had finished third and why weren't they at the awards ceremony.

The full girls' team plus State Meet qualifiers from the boys' team:
Ian Thompson(left) and Nadir Yusuf(right)

They didn't believe then they were contenders.  This year they did.  When Willmar coach Jerry Popp was asked in an interview after the State Meet when he knew these girls were talented, he said that the coaches had noticed their talent as early as sixth and seventh grade.  But the key ingredient for the success they had this year, the girls themselves said, was their ability to run unselfishly as a group.

Only 17.5 seconds separated the top five and 21.4 between first and sixth at the State Meet.  Only the order of finish changed during the season as when one runner dropped back, another moved forward to fill the gap.  "We're a big family," the girls said. "All working together, pushing each other." If the team has a leader it's Samantha  Hanson, the only senior on the team, which includes three eighth graders and three sophomores.

Hanson was a volleyball player until she was a freshman at Willmar.  For the cross country team she became "the quiet leader," said Popp.  Quiet in that there were no motivational speeches or entreaties.  Instead she would "sacrifice herself" for the team, said Popp.  Go out hard and give the pack someone to follow, knowing that her front running early made it more likely that one or more of her teammates would catch and pass her toward the end of the race.

It's what she did at the NXN Regionals.  After the State Meet the team got together and did a "debrief" of sorts.  They knew that they again had run as a tight pack, but their pack was too far back to catch Wayzata, whose top three were well in front of the Willmar pack.  "Nobody was going to beat Wayzata that day," said Popp.  Sam Hanson decided that if she stayed with Edina's number one runner early in the NXN Regional race, that would keep the Willmar chasing her closer to the front of the field and might be enough to outscore Edina.

When the Willmar pack of four caught Hanson, two of them finished ahead of her and two behind her, separated by only 11.2 seconds.  So impressive was the pack that many thought Willmar had not only finished in front of Edina, but Wayzata as well.  When the team totals were tallied, Wayzata had defended their title 96 to 126, with Edina tallying 138.  Edina might be in line for an at large berth at NXN Nationals, as Popp said prior to the State Meet, there's not a lot of difference between the three teams.  On any given day the order of finish among them, as it is within the Willmar team, could change.

Whatever happens the Willmar girls intend on enjoying the experience, as they did when choosing the snowy format for their team photo.  When they were asked after NXN Regionals what their goals were at NXN Nationals, they answered that they hadn't even thought about it yet.  They just want to have fun.