HTHS cross-country team races toward another season
The Hewitt-Trussville High School cross-country team is preparing to head into another season.
Cross-country coach Matthew Michalke said both the boys and girls teams had great finishes last year, but he has goals to do better this upcoming season.
The girls cross-country team finished second in sectionals last season and finished third at the state championship, which is the second time the Huskies have finished third It ties the best state finish in program history, he said.
“Statistically speaking, last year was the best team in school history, from the girls’ standpoint,” Michalke said. “While our standing didn’t necessarily improve for two years in a row, in terms of numbers, we had the best team ever because of our average time per runner, our split, the distance between how far the fifth runner finished behind the first.”
Out of the top five runners, Michalke said, the team only lost one to graduation.
Michalke said several incoming freshmen have the potential to fill that number one spot, as well as multiple sophomores that are improving.
“Right now, it’s pretty wide open when you look at ranking,” Michalke said. “Our goal, ultimately, is to get over that hump of third and get into one of those two spots at state. I think it’s definitely doable.”
The boys team had more of a rocky season in 2021, Michalke said.
The boys had a number of injuries and key runners on the team that graduated before the season, he said.
By the end of the season, Michalke said, the boys team was able to come together and finish second at sectionals.
“It was a pretty different story than the girls,” Michalke said. “The girls were pretty consistent all year. The guys really didn’t put it all together until the very end of the season. Going into sectionals, on paper, we were just fighting for a spot to even qualify for state. It looked like we could maybe finish fourth or fifth at sectionals, but we ended up having our best day of the year.”
Tristan Teer, now a senior at Hewitt-Trussville High School, was the individual champion at sectionals and led the team to the state championship competition, Michalke said.
The boys finished fifth at the meet, with two of them finishing in the individual top six.
The current goal for the boys team in this upcoming season is to finish in the top three at the state championship, Michalke said.
“On paper, right now, teams three through eight are all kind of the same,” Michalke said. “We’re in that mix. We’ve got the potential to be one of the top three programs in the state for sure.
“I think across the board, guys and girls, we’re getting our minds around the fact that we’re trying to be one of the best teams in the state and we’re close to that,” Michalke added. “We’re trying to get over that hump of Hoover, Huntsville and Auburn. I think that’s been the big mindset, realizing that we’re just as good if not better than those teams.”