The boys cross country team has begun its season, winning four races and marking first-time high school wins for several athletes.
“We won our first four or five meets, and we’ve run into some bumps the last two,” said assistant coach Chris Krolick. “I would say that there are a lot more positives than negatives.”
Dominic Newman, head coach, has found this year to be more challenging than previous years due to the team’s advancement to a higher division.
“We’re trying to get over the barrier now because the WIAA has a competitive equity: if [the team] scores three points at a sectional or state meet, or six points over a three year period, [the team] gets moved up to D1, so now we have to compete against schools that are two to three times our size,” Newman said.
According to athletes, the team dynamic is quite competitive as well.
“Team-wise, I think everyone’s getting a lot faster this year because everyone’s pushing each other and trying to beat each other,” said Benny Bejma, sophomore and varsity runner. “[The] competitiveness kind of helps everyone, and builds our whole team up.”
Newman believes it’s important for the team to have a good mindset. Last year, the team won most of their meets, but this year’s meets have gotten more competitive.
“On paper, this appears to be one of our strongest teams ever, so it doesn’t matter what division that we’re in,” Newman said. “We as coaches have to help them recognize that. I just [have to] keep them motivated. The top two teams in D1 advance to the state meet. That’s our goal: to get them ready to compete at the end of October and hopefully the first week of November at the state meet.”
Bejma has enjoyed the meets so far and looks forward to future races.
“This year, we went out to Smiley, which is in Wausau,” Bejma said. “We had a race there, but we also swam at our hotel and went out for dinner. We’re also going to Nike Nationals, which is in South Dakota. That’s at the end of the season.”
Along with running practices, the team also participates in bonding activities.
“In the summer we do a bunch of team bonding,” Bejma said. “We go to the beach all the time. We pretty much do team bonding twice a week, honestly a lot. In-season, we do a lot of pasta dinners.”
Newman has also helped to organize the Run As One Scholarship.
“The parents and alumni have raised over 60,000 dollars in a short period of time,” Newman said. “A male and female athlete at the end of the year are eligible to apply for a thousand dollar scholarship. It’s fun to see who that goes to and the community that picks that, and that means more to me than any of the trophies and anything else that goes on.”
Newman finds coaching at Shorewood to be very rewarding.
“I’ve been coaching for 25 years here at Shorewood, so obviously I love it,” Newman said. “I love the connection with my athletes and the community, and the parent involvement has been outstanding. I think when I first got into coaching [I was] just sort of looking at the season and then looking at the next. [I] don’t really realize how much of an impact [I] have on the athletes even 25 years out.”