Rosette Ochoa will start her seventh season as a coach in the Evanston girls cross country program next week, and she said this could be one of the best Wildkits teams she’s seen.
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“We had a nice summer, and we went over some of our goals for this year,” said Ochoa, who is in her second season as the team’s head coach.
One of the goals is to have several runners advance to state. Another is to improve the athletes’ physical and mental strength. The third goal is for the Wildkits to be more competitive than they were in 2014 and “have a more competitive spirit,” Ochoa said in a text message.
Five of the top seven runners from last year’s postseason lineup are expected back, including Emma Dzwierzynski. As a sophomore, Dzwierzynski took seventh at the Class 3A Loyola Regional to help the Wildkits finish fifth and advance to the sectional at Niles West. Evanston finished 11th at the sectional and Dzwierzynski then qualified for the Class 3A state meet, where she placed 79th.
“I feel stronger than I ever have,” Dzwierzynski said. “I haven’t put in the same number of miles as last summer, but the longer daily workouts I have done are helping me. The other girls are pushing me, too.”
Ochoa remarked that Dzwierzynski’s times this summer are about the same as they were at the end of last season. At the sectional, she clocked a time of 18 minutes, 3 seconds and followed that up with a time of 18:04 at the state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria.
“She came in ready to work again,” Ochoa said. “She doesn’t want to just get better herself, but she wants to bring her teammates along with her.”
Sophie Levine, Hannah Hayat and Gabrielle Dinsmore rounded out the team’s top four at the regional race behind Dzwierzynski. Levine is entering her sophomore season while Hayat and Dinsmore will be seniors this fall. Ochoa said Levine is someone capable of running on the last Saturday of the season.
“She definitely can do it, especially after her summer training,” Ochoa said. “She can get up there with Emma.”
Ochoa said around 30 runners participated in Evanston’s summer running program, which is about the same number as a year ago. Last week, five girls spent two nights at Camp Lakotah in Wautoma, Wis., for training and team bonding.
Among the girls who went to Wisconsin, senior Maya Crowe-Barnes was the only one who raced in the state series last year, competing at the sectional meet. But senior Grace Carter and sophomore Violet Kuner could crack the top seven at some point this season, according to Ochoa.
Dzwierzynski said that depth should carry the Wildkits far this fall and she anticipates spurring on her teammates.
“It’s definitely a good thing,” she said of the internal competition. “When I was a freshman, I had girls who pushed me. I know there are girls who will look to me for that this year. But it also will help me.”
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