Tiger Cubs hoping new coach will equal more wins in 2007

Monday, August 20, 2007
Laura Weatherford and Katie Trigg

The Greencastle girls' cross country team sports a new coach, and five of the seven girls out for the team are first-timers. However, there was no "getting to know you" time required between the girls and their new coach.

GHS girls' track coach Garry Anderson has taken on the task of coaching the cross country team this fall, and all seven of his girls have run for him in track.

"They are working very hard," Anderson said. "They know how I coach."

On the other hand, only two Tiger Cubs -- Katie Trigg and Sarah Culler -- have run cross country before.

"We have a lot of inexperience," Anderson said. "It's going to be a new experience for five girls."

The newcomer include senior Laura Weatherford, junior Hannah Serlin and sophomores Kaitlyn Murtagh, Ivonne Martinez and Jessie Brown. The lack of freshmen makes Anderson a little uncomfortable and is a point he knows he needs to work on to ensure the future of the team.

"I have to work on that," he said.

Having not coached cross country since his days at Edgewood, Anderson knows he'll get a refresher very quickly when the season begins.

"I don't know what to expect out of cross country, but they're pretty good kids," he said.

Through the early season practices, all Anderson could ask for from his girls were hard work and positive attitudes. He was not disappointed in these.

"They are getting in good workouts," Anderson said. "They've worked very hard. I'm very pleased.

"The thing I've liked about it is they're just so positive," he continued. "They've just accepted this and taken right off."

What the runners have accepted is the hot weather of practices this practice season. Anderson does not hear any complaints, though. They did much of their training at the DePauw Nature Park to maximize their shade. Besides this, he tells them where and how long they will run, and they take right off.

Greencastle hopes the hard work will pay off in county, conference and sectional. They finished third in both county and conference last season, along with seventh in sectional. They hope for better this year.

"We want to improve on all those, and if we can, I'll be please," Anderson said.

In terms of his numbers, Anderson knows seven runners are not that many, but he does not complain.

"This is not bad having seven girls right now," he said. "A lot of team are struggling to put numbers together, and I'm happy with this bunch."

The Tiger Cubs open their season at 4:30 p.m. Thursday when they travel to Cloverdale, the defending county and WCC champs.

"We're going to find out really quick where we stack up," Anderson said.

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