Wayne boy’s cross country on a learning curve

From top left: Nikita Bhangu, Kaleb Allen, Trever Lloyd, Andrew Winters, Coach Tom Gibson, Coach Kathy Hansen, Jesse Jarvis, Faithann Dennis. Middle from left: McKaylah Gidner, Tyler Westfall, Sagib Garcia, Jessica Leigh, Dennie Williams IV, Cody Macuga, Jamie Carranza, Jr. Bottom from left: Alyssa Johnson, Joshua Harper, Melaina Climer, Kolby Hood, Austin Bazan, Allison Jones.

By Dave Merchant – The Zebra cross country team always has a tough league to run in and this season was no different. Two of the top three teams in the state are in their conference. The number two team is Northville and the number three team is Novi.
Boys’ cross country Coach Tom Gibson had his work cut out for him this season. Last year his team had four runners who ran a seventeen-minute or better race and one that broke 19:00 minutes. Four of them got scholarships for cross country, two to Madonna University and two to Lawrence Technological University. One runner finished in 51st at the state and the other finished 66th.
Last year the team took fifth in the division. He lost nine boys. Six to graduation, one to injury and two runners from last year quit. Last year they were fifth in the division and this year they were 12 out of 12.
It was a challenge this season to work with an almost totally new team of runners. Dealing with what he had was a lot of track and baseball athletes that had never run a 5K. Some were distance runners and some were sprinters.
Gibson’s top runner and junior captain was Jamie Carranza.
“Actually he was our number five runner from last year,” Gibson remarked. “This year he learned how to run in front, last year he was being pulled by four seniors.”
The top five runners on the team this year were: senior Kaleb Allen, juniors Sagib Garcia and Tyler Westfall along with sophomore Cody Macuga.
“All the boys on the team worked really hard,” he said. “The team improved over two and half minutes over the season.”
The major win for the team was beating the John Glenn Rockets in the dual season. At the league meet the Zebras finished 12 out of 12.
They are still looking to improve for next summer. Gibson said it really doesn’t matter what other sports they play just as long as they compete.
“We have swimmers, baseball players and track runners,” he said. “Cardio is the biggest thing (for training). I do encourage track.”
He is looking for numbers again next year and if they could have a much better year he says that would be a plus.
The Wayne boys’ cross country team competed at the Class A regional at Lake Erie Metro Park on Halloween.
The girls’ cross country team this season was made up of juniors Nikita Bhangu and Melanie Climer, sophomores Jessica Leigh and Allison Jones and a couple of freshmen McKaylah Gidner and Faithann Dennis. Girls’ Coach Kathy Hansen couldn’t be prouder of her bunch of harriers.
“This season has been going exceptionally well,” Hansen said. “We came into the season with four returning runners, who all ran over the summer. They put in some serious miles (3 of the 4 ran over 500 miles in 100 days).”
She said it is a testament to how well they are doing this season.
“Their times significantly improved the first meet this season, and have been dropping steadily ever since (3-5 minutes for each girl),” she commented. (Jessica) Leigh broke the school record October 13 when we faced John Glenn. Her time was 20:15, which beat the old mark of 20:22 set in 1980 by Laura Weyand.
“Gidner has also been a standout, running times that make her one of the fastest freshman in the girl’s team history,” she said. “Gidner is running right up there with our upperclassmen, (Nikita) Bhangu and (Melaina) Climer. The leadership that the latter two show make this team great.”
So far this year, the Zebras have placed 3rd at the Crestwood Invitational, 16th at the Wayne County Championship, and 10th in the KLAA Conference Meet. These are the highest places the team has gotten in years according to Hansen.
“I am so proud of how the girls have been running this season,” she said. “The time and effort they put into practices and meets is tremendous and it shows in their times. Next year they look to be even better.”
The girls’ competed on Halloween and the Class A regional finals against 10-12 teams.By Dave Merchant
The Zebra cross country team always has a tough league to run in and this season was no different. Two of the top three teams in the state are in their conference. The number two team is Northville and the number three team is Novi.
Boys’ cross country Coach Tom Gibson had his work cut out for him this season. Last year his team had four runners who ran a seventeen-minute or better race and one that broke 19:00 minutes. Four of them got scholarships for cross country, two to Madonna University and two to Lawrence Technological University. One runner finished in 51st at the state and the other finished 66th.
Last year the team took fifth in the division. He lost nine boys. Six to graduation, one to injury and two runners from last year quit. Last year they were fifth in the division and this year they were 12 out of 12.
It was a challenge this season to work with an almost totally new team of runners. Dealing with what he had was a lot of track and baseball athletes that had never run a 5K. Some were distance runners and some were sprinters.
Gibson’s top runner and junior captain was Jamie Carranza.
“Actually he was our number five runner from last year,” Gibson remarked. “This year he learned how to run in front, last year he was being pulled by four seniors.”
The top five runners on the team this year were: senior Kaleb Allen, juniors Sagib Garcia and Tyler Westfall along with sophomore Cody Macuga.
“All the boys on the team worked really hard,” he said. “The team improved over two and half minutes over the season.”
The major win for the team was beating the John Glenn Rockets in the dual season. At the league meet the Zebras finished 12 out of 12.
They are still looking to improve for next summer. Gibson said it really doesn’t matter what other sports they play just as long as they compete.
“We have swimmers, baseball players and track runners,” he said. “Cardio is the biggest thing (for training). I do encourage track.”
He is looking for numbers again next year and if they could have a much better year he says that would be a plus.
The Wayne boys’ cross country team competed at the Class A regional at Lake Erie Metro Park on Halloween.
The girls’ cross country team this season was made up of juniors Nikita Bhangu and Melanie Climer, sophomores Jessica Leigh and Allison Jones and a couple of freshmen McKaylah Gidner and Faithann Dennis. Girls’ Coach Kathy Hansen couldn’t be prouder of her bunch of harriers.
“This season has been going exceptionally well,” Hansen said. “We came into the season with four returning runners, who all ran over the summer. They put in some serious miles (3 of the 4 ran over 500 miles in 100 days).”
She said it is a testament to how well they are doing this season.
“Their times significantly improved the first meet this season, and have been dropping steadily ever since (3-5 minutes for each girl),” she commented. (Jessica) Leigh broke the school record October 13 when we faced John Glenn. Her time was 20:15, which beat the old mark of 20:22 set in 1980 by Laura Weyand.
“Gidner has also been a standout, running times that make her one of the fastest freshman in the girl’s team history,” she said. “Gidner is running right up there with our upperclassmen, (Nikita) Bhangu and (Melaina) Climer. The leadership that the latter two show make this team great.”
So far this year, the Zebras have placed 3rd at the Crestwood Invitational, 16th at the Wayne County Championship, and 10th in the KLAA Conference Meet. These are the highest places the team has gotten in years according to Hansen.
“I am so proud of how the girls have been running this season,” she said. “The time and effort they put into practices and meets is tremendous and it shows in their times. Next year they look to be even better.”
The girls’ competed on Halloween and the Class A regional finals against 10-12 teams.