Success has been commonplace for the Lady Hubs cross country team over the last few years, and head coach John Dobbs is looking to continue guiding the Rochelle harriers to more achievements this fall.
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ROCHELLE — Success has been commonplace for the Lady Hubs cross country team over the last few years, and head coach John Dobbs is looking to continue guiding the Rochelle harriers to more achievements this fall.
Seven seniors including past sectional qualifiers Morgan Baker, Hannah Cruz and Claire Plapp have departed from the Lady Hub roster, but that doesn’t mean the Rochelle squad won’t have any returning runners poised for big performances this season. Dobbs may have small numbers at the moment, but he’s optimistic the girls can perform well this fall.
“We’re excited for the kids who are returning this year,” Dobbs said. “I think we’ll be a pretty well-rounded team as we start to come together over the next few weeks.”
Highlighting the returning runners for Rochelle is senior Katherine Bakken, a two-time sectional qualifier in cross country and a state qualifier last year in the 3200-meter run for the Lady Hubs track and field team. Dobbs said Bakken will be instrumental in helping the Lady Hubs perform well at meets this year.
“Katherine has high hopes for herself coming off a really nice track and field season,” Dobbs said. “I’m sure she has goals to make the state meet and I think that will be really neat because I don’t think we’ve had a runner qualify for state in 22 years… We think the training plan we’ve put together for her will help her achieve her goals.”
Senior Anne Hickey, junior Britney Baez and sophomore Heidi Cruz are among more returning runners expected to contribute this season along with senior newcomer Camryn Turner, who frequently competed in the 800-meter run for the Lady Hubs track and field team this past season. Rochelle’s top finishes from 2017 included taking second in the Matt Walter Invitational and third in the Freeport Invitational.
The 2018 Lady Hub cross country season begins when the girls travel to the Afton Forest Preserve for the Sycamore Invitational on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 4:45 p.m. Dobbs said that confidence will be instrumental when the girls lace up their running shoes this fall.
“We did pretty well at several meets,” Dobbs said. “I would like to see the girls have the confidence to do well at every meet we attend. I don’t want us to be intimidated by some of the other teams we see, and I want us to always find ways to run within ourselves and get better each time we go out.”
