Over the last three years, the women’s cross country team went from being an unspectacular team to becoming the first Georgia State sport to win a Sun Belt Championship.
As the Panthers won a total of four meets this fall, head coach Chris England remarked the team’s growth since he arrived three seasons ago.
“They’ve definitely taken big strides in the right direction,” England said. “It’s been a building process since I arrived at Georgia State. Each year builds upon the next, but I feel like in all the years this is the biggest leap both teams (men and women) have made.”
The women’s team started the season strong, winning three of the first five events while averaging a second place finish in all five. The team won their second meet, the GSU Invitational, then placing eighth out of 24 at the Commodore Classic, before winning the West Georgia Invitational and the Jaguar Invite.
But the Panthers’ biggest accomplishment was winning the Sun Belt Conference Championship, where they outran 12 teams. The team even eclipsed the high demands of their head coach, even with the season still ongoing.
“Well exceeded expectations. We had goals going into the season; of course, we’re not finished with the season yet, but we’ve met most of those goals, and exceeded them,” England said.
There was also remarkable consistency from the team, with a 14th place finish being their worst performance of the season, and averaging just under a fourth place finish with at least one more meet to go.
“My goal was to go to some really easy competitions, to dominate, win, and build confidence, but also go to difficult competitions where they face some of the country’s best teams,” England said. “By no means did they dominate, but it gave them a boost, that they could run against the best teams in the nation. They may not beat them, but they can definitely hang with them.”
It was a big leap forward for the student-athletes as well, with two first team All-Conference players in senior Katharine Showalter and sophomore Hannah Stefanoff, the 2011 CAA co-rookie of the year, as well as several other runners making second and third team All-Sun Belt.
All of the accolades that the runners are accruing have not changed the structure of the team or the way they go about their business.
“I would say our team is full of silent leaders… We don’t have a strong vocal captain on either squad, but what we do have is a team deep in personalities that want to succeed,” England said. “What we do have are silent leaders in practice who push themselves to do the right thing, and lead by example.”
Moving into the next season, Coach England sees a bright future for the program. But, for now, it’s all about continually improving and getting ready for the NCAA regionals.
“It’s been a progression; last year we were 14th, two years ago we were 19th. So that’s huge to place in the top ten and right now we are ranked in the top ten,” England said. “But going forward, we can build on that in future years. Instead of hoping to be in the top ten, consistently be in the top ten. Then top five, then, who knows?”
Season Results (place/number of teams)
Clemson Invitational 2nd/2
GSU Invitational 1st/4
Commodore Classic 8th/24
West Georgia Invitational 1st/10
Jaguar Invite 1st/9
Chile Pepper Invitational 12th/43
Sun Belt Championship 1st/12
NCAA South Regional 11th/29
