According to Berkshire Badgers’ cross country Coach Bryan Wadsworth, he is not surprised at this point about what his squad is capable of. The Berkshire boys finished in 3rd place, scoring 217 points with a 31-32-37-41-76 finish and the girls took fourth place as a team tallying 212 points with a 5-32-35-69-71 finish at the Hoka Night Showcase Gold Division last Saturday evening at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva.
“That was awesome,” said the fourth-year coach. “We were hoping going into the meet that we were going to have a good show, but we had no expectation that it was going to be that good. The kids have put in a ton of work this summer and the offseason and it paid off for them.”
The Badger boys were fueled by a pack-running strategy, as freshman Benjamin Townsend took 34th place with a time of 17:15, followed by junior Aiden Hollingsworth who netted 35th place with 17:16, senior Danny Auth wrapped up 40th place by clocking 17:22, sophomore Evan Tromba earned 44th place with a time of 17:27 and sophomore Tripp Wadsworth snagged 82nd place by logging 18:02.
Coach Wadsworth said that the Berkshire boys’ pack-running was just an example of what they have practiced in the offseason.
“If you come to our practices, you will see the exact same thing,” he noted. “Typically, we have almost all seven guys within 10-15 seconds of each other so that is the way we are going to get it done this year.”
Although the Badgers graduated two seniors from last year’s regional qualifying team, they still return experience with Auth, Hollingsworth and Tromba and blend everything together with some talented underclassmen, including the freshman Townsend.
Coach Wadsworth said that Townsend leading the Badgers in his first varsity race was a continuation of the momentum he built at the junior high level.
“Benny has been leading, he has been running toward the front since seventh grade, so he is used to the pressure of it,” he added. “The other guys just put in a ton of work, and it is paying off for him.”
Although Townsend was the Badgers’ lead runner at the Hoka Night Showcase, Coach Wadsworth said that the Berkshire boys’ depth is good enough that there will be a different lead runner in every race.
The Badger girls’ unveiled a new lineup with their fourth-place finish, led by freshman Claire Passow, who took fifth place with a time of 19:31, followed by junior Addison Passow who earned 33rd place with 20:43, freshmen June Dunlap captured 36th place by clocking 20:46, freshmen Ashlyn Brzozski came in 71st place at 21:48 and junior Ella Strmen snagged 73rd place with 21:50.
“The girls were happy with their place, but they individually said you know what, I am going to do better than that so that is a good sign,” said Coach Wadsworth. “That was five freshmen in our top seven runners with Ella and Addy being our juniors. To have five freshmen step up and run in that big of a race, we are excited.”
The Badger girls were separated into three flights during the race, but Wadsworth said that he is confident that the three flights can get closer together over the course of the season.
The Berkshire girls will be spurred by a youth movement, as the freshmen class has already made their presence known, led by Claire.
Having led the Badger girls’ cross country team in junior high, Claire showed her grit in her first varsity race, surging in the final mile-and-and-a-half from 13th place to 5th place.
“She passed a smile with about a mile-and-a-half to go and we knew it was going to be go time, so she took off after that and she has been working her tail off all year,” said Coach Wadsworth. “She finished sixth at the junior high state track meet mile and has just continued since then, working hard.”
Coach Wadsworth emphasized that while Claire’s future looks bright, the entire freshmen class is poised to revitalize the Berkshire girls’ cross country program, with Dunlap and Brzozski each expected to have big roles alongside Claire.
Following competing at the 33rd annual Oscar Grant Maplewood Invitational at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds on Thursday evening, Berkshire will return to action when they race at the Seneca East Stars, Stripes & Lights Invitational on Sep. 12 in Attica at 6 p.m.
