Blessed Trinity Boys placed runner up in class 6A
Path to the Podium-Blessed Trinity Boys
What exactly did it take for a team to arrive at the moment where they are standing on the podium, clutching their prized trophy? In this article, Blessed Trinity coach Greg Johnson details the journey his boys took on their way to their 2nd place finish at State in Class 6A.
XC 2022
Any seniors that set a good example or laid the foundation?
We only had one varsity senior last year who was more of a 400/800 guy than a XC guy, but in the 2021 and 2020 XC seasons, we had a good number of varsity seniors that showed their younger teammates what was possible through hard work and a team first mentality. Guys like Adam Wade, Alex Garrot, Ben Rothering, Zack Burke and Colin Shank.
Any good or bad results that motivated the team?
The 2022 XC season was a tough one. We had our worst finish at State in the history of our program. Our guys were determined to take this team back to the podium and placing as high on that podium as possible.
Winter 2022
Anyone that stepped up their training with XC already in mind?
Most of our boys really committed to Winter training in preparation for Track.
Any setbacks/challenges that had to be overcome?
No setbacks to overcome.
Track 2023
Did anyone have a breakout season, or were there new additions that changed the outlook of XC?
Callum Beach joined us for his first Track season along with doing Lacrosse. He ran 10:11 in the 3200 without being able to do much training with Lacrosse. So we knew he was going to have a lot of improvement this XC season. Along with Callum, we had a group of returning runners that improved their times a great deal. We also realized how much depth we were building since I was able to hold Loden Kohrman out of the Region 4x800 and use one of my strong XC runners in his place and Loden was able to move on to Sectionals and State and finish in 7th for the 3200.
Any setbacks/challenges that had to be overcome?
None
Summer 2023
Any new additions that changed the outlook for XC?
Evan Craig and Nicholas Pinto joined our program this year and even though they are freshman, you could tell that they were going to be strong varsity runners for us. This added to our depth as a team and gave some of our 9-12 runners more people to train with and use to push their own abilities in races.
What were the early goals for the season?
One of our biggest goals from the start of the season was getting our #2-5 runners (Ryan Sewczwicz, Timmy Cole, Callum Beach and Isaac Soricelli) to pack it up in races and to get them to work together to close the gap on our #1, Loden Kohrman. If we could have a tight 1-5 spread, we knew we could have some good team performances. We were blessed with a lot of depth. Behind our top 5, we had about 9 boys that could be our #6 or #7 runners. So getting those guys to work together at practice and in races and work to close the gap on our #5 runner. We wanted to have a team where our #7 runner could step up and be our #5 runner if needed.
How did summer training go for the team?
The team put in the work over the Summer. The boys did a training trip in Colorado for a week in July and really bonded over the trip. This is a group of boys that really work well together and put the team first. They also started the school season in August in a really positive mindset and were more than ready for the first race at Blastow.
Any setbacks/challenges that had to be overcome?
None
Season 2023
Did anyone have a breakout season that changed the outlook for the team?
We were blessed to have a lot of varsity boys that improved from last season to this season.
Ryan Sewczwicz-was injured at the end of last Cross Country season and not able to compete at State. This year he was our top runner at the State Championship, running his best race of the season and finishing 7th overall with the 4th fastest time in school history for the State course.
Loden Kohrman-ran 46 seconds faster at Bob Blastow, 32 seconds faster at Wingfoot, and 44 seconds faster than his previous best time at State. He was our #2 runner at State in 13th place.
Callum Beach-ran 1:40 faster at Bob Blastow, 1:39 faster at Wingfoot, 1:36 faster at Coach Wood and 1:41 faster at Regions. He had a great state race finishing in 15th place as our #3 runner. At the State meet, he ran 16:55 becoming the fastest #3 runner we have ever had at the State meet.
Isaac Soricelli-ran 40-50 seconds faster on most of the courses this season, but saved his best for last running 1:36 faster at State this year than last year and finishing in 17th place. At the State meet, he ran 16:56 becoming the fastest #4 runner we have ever had at the State meet.
Timmy Cole-ran 55 seconds faster at Bob Blastow, 52 seconds faster at Regions and 31 seconds faster at State. He was our #5 at State and was the fastest #5 runner we have ever had at the State meet.
Will Rothering-ran 2:28 faster at Bob Blastow, 1:26 faster at Wingfoot, 1:22 faster at Coach Wood, but saved his best for last. At the Region meet, he won the JV race running 3:34 faster than last year and earning his spot as one of the 7 varsity runners at the State meet. At the State meet, he ran 17:31 becoming the fastest #6 runner we have ever had at the State meet.
Evan Craig-freshman that worked his way up to our varsity 7 after going sub 17 at Coach Wood. He ran 17:40 at State becoming the fastest #7 runner our program has ever had at State.
While Nicholas Pinto, Luke Wallace, James Griffin, Paul Cotter, Dominic Cryer, Jack Hicks and John Haly did not race at State, they were all varsity runners that added to our depth. They all pushed their teammates going after one of the 7 spots at State. They made our team better along with junior transfer and JV runner Omar Pina.
Nicholas Pinto-had a great freshman season and was consistently one of our top 8 runners. He was our #6 runner at Carrollton Orthowest running 17:56 and went on to finish second in the JV race at Regions.
Luke Wallace- ran 2:24 faster at Bob Blastow, 1:22 faster at Wingfoot, 1:07 faster at Coach Wood, and was consistently going after one of the 7 spots at State.
James Griffin-ran 1:14 faster at Bob Blastow, 51 seconds faster at Wingfoot and 1:15 faster at Regions. Paul Cotter-ran 1:35 faster at Bob Blastow and 57 seconds faster at Wingfoot.
Omar Pina-ran 1:30 faster at Wingfoot and 1:28 faster on Carrollton.
How did early results compare to the team goals?
Early results were very encouraging.
At Bob Blastow, our boys won the championship running a top 5 team average of 16:09. That is the fastest top 5 team average performance by our team at Blastow besting our 2021 boys team's top 5 team average of 16:17!
At Carrollton Orthowest, our boys finished in second place running a top 5 average of 17:02.34. This top 5 average is the best ever recorded by a BT boys team at the Carrollton Orthowest Invitational. The previous best top 5 average at the Carrollton Orthowest Invitational was 17:31. The previous best top 5 average at State was 17:02.65. That was done by the best BT team I have ever coached, the 2016 BT team that won Wingfoot. This 2023 team was making a statement that they could be the best program in school history.
Did the team revise any goals?
Our goals stayed the same throughout the season.
Any setbacks/challenges that had to be overcome?
One of our top runners, Ryan Sewczwicz, was dealing with medical issues throughout the season. There were many races where he was dealing with discomfort beyond which is normal. He always battled so hard to help the team fighting for every place in every race. At the State Championship, it was so nice to see Ryan feeling good again. He was our top runner at the State Championship finishing in 7th place overall and running the 4th fastest time in school history on the State course.
In hindsight, what are the key moments of the season that led to the State result?
One of the key moments was our boys team performance at the Carrollton Orthowest Invitational. We had never had a boys team run that fast on Carrollton before. To have 3 boys sub 17, 5 boys sub 17:30 and 8 boys 18:00 or faster on September 9th gave us a lot of hope about what we could accomplish at State.
This State result was the product of a year's work. Winter Training, Track, Summer training and the XC season. I am really proud of my boys. They made this year's BT program the best in school history.