With the return of Anna Hurlock Tuesday evening at the Oak Hill Invitational, Western coach Dana Neer now has his full team back in action and his sights set on their first trip to state. Although Hurlock, a junior who has been plagued with injuries since last spring, isn't up to speed yet, she was one of seven Lady Panthers who placed in the top 15. Their 37 points easily outdistanced second-place Jay County with 90. Current frontrunner, Annina Gruber, was the individual champion in 16:04.
Before Coach Neer took over the program, Western was 10th in 2001 at the Manchester regional. One year later under Neer, they placed fourth at regional with Gruber, a freshman, finishing 18th in 16:15 and third for the team. An inconsistent run a week later by Gruber in 17:47 put them 19th at semistate. With three other returnees in 2003 - Brittany Stellhorn, Megan Clearwaters, and Becky Elliot - along with the addition of Hurlock, Western finished second to Carroll at the regional. At the New Haven semistate, Gruber ran well (13th-15:09) but the team fell short of a bid to state by 20 points and ended up sixth. Last year, with Hurlock in 13th (15:21) and Gruber 43rd (16:02), Western again ended their season in seventh at semistate, this time out by 40 points.
After their win at Oak Hill, RunIndiana.com talked with Coach Neer about his team, his daughter Waverly, an outstanding Western 7th-grade runner who won the middle school race in 11:31, and prospects for the rest of the season.
COACH NEER COMMENTS...
RI: Your girls looked really tough tonight. Annina looked really strong. Is she running more steady for you?
Coach Neer: "Thank you. Yes, Annina has been steady for us. She's racing really well right now. Last year she was a little bit inconsistent. Her problem was that she tried to run with Anna pulling her along. She didn't want to relinquish that #1 spot. But we worked through that. This year she is racing much more mature and her training has also been consistent."
RI: Now that Annina is a senior, what are her plans afterwards?
Coach Neer: "She's had some offers for college, several schools from around the state. She's a good student and would like to run in Division 1. I think she is capable of that."
RI: You've got to be happy with Anna Hurlock now running again, although she looked like she was hurting at the end.
Coach Neer: "Well her knee is not hurting her. It's her breathing."
RI: Is she a little out of shape for being out that long?
Coach Neer: "I think so. She can't go in the pool. She has some allergies in the pool, so basically she is just biking."
RI: How much are you going to depend on her at the end? How crucial is she?
Coach Neer: "I think we'll go to the state meet if we have her. Our goal was to have her run 14:30-14:45, which she is capable of doing. Now I'd be content with 15:30 right now. That would still get us to state."
RI:
What exactly has been her problem with her knee? Did she hurt it in basketball?
Coach
Neer: "No, Annina hurt her back in basketball, but Anna had this hip problem in track that developed from a backpack. Then she developed a stress fracture later on. She ran an 11:32 in February for 3200 before that."
RI:So is she cleared to go now?
Coach Neer: "Well, then she stepped in a hole and hurt her knee about four weeks ago in cross country. It's just one thing after another."
RI: I hear you were a new papa over the weekend.
Coach Neer: "I am. I got new little boy, six pounds, seven ounces. Built like a runner."
RI: Your daughter Waverly is running super. Has she been training a lot. What makes her so fast - does she get that from you?
Coach Neer: "Well, I try to hold her back. We want to train her smart. She really does not train hard. Once in awhile she runs a four-miler, mosting three miles."
RI: Nothing longer than that?
Coach Neer: "I'm trying to be really cautious. She's only a 7th-grader. When she runs, she runs. She doesn't mess around. She really adapts well to whatever conditions she's in. She's outside a lot and we make sure she's active."
RI: Will she get a chance to see other top runners in state competition anywhere?
Coach Neer: "She'll go to New Haven."
RI: But that's not quite a fair test. Some of the kids can't quite run the 4K, right?
Coach Neer: "She'll run the state meet."
RI: Any chance she can get over to the Carroll Invitational in October? There will be some fast girls over there.
Coach Neer: "The girl (Alissa Peterson) from West Noble is tough. She's another 7th-grader."
RI: So what are you looking at teamwise for your girls at the semistate?
Coach Neer: "I've got my eyes on DeKalb. They are improving and improving. I knew they'd be decent this year but I'm surprised how good they've become."
RI: With Northridge, Carroll and Concordia there, are you looking at that fourth or fifth spot being open for you?
Coach Neer: "Snider too. Right now, I'm not positive, but Huntington North isn't looking as strong as I thought and Homestead looked stronger earlier."
RI: What about peaking? It seemed like last year your girls didn't have a really good race at the end.
Coach Neer: "Well, partly our #5 runner had mono and never was able to bounce back. She just didn't have the strength for the last three-quarters of a mile. We needed her. Other than that, we did OK. Annina got hit and it messed her up for about 200 meters. Although it wouldn't have affected our placing, you lose 200 meters in that race and you're done."
RI: What other key points in the season are you looking at to see how you stack up?
Coach Neer: "We go to New Prairie and we'll go to New Haven. I think we did well in the big school division there last year. By semistate our girls will be ready."
RI: Is this the year you're going to state? It looks like after that you're going to get even better.
Coach Neer: "We're getting better. I think it's going to come soon. We've been able to take them to a new level. Before that they went to regional a couple times. To them it was a big deal. I said that's OK girls, but it's not that great of a goal. And they believed in it. So hey, we're there."