History |
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| The 1979 Lumen Christi girls cross-country team lead by foundress, Holly Hunting, and coach, Mike Woolsey. |
| The following is a direct copy of an article written by Chuck Carlton in the Jackson Citizen Patriot in the Fall of 1992. |
| Before
the dynasty and the six state championships and the 95-4 dual-meet
record for the Lumen Christi girls cross-country team, there was Holly
Hunting. A team of one. It was Hunting, through force of
will, who laid the path all of Christi's champion runners follow.
The plaque on her bedroom wall, given to her by the Christi team
at a 10-year reunion, puts it best: "HOLLY
HUNTING. Mother of the Lumen Christi girls cross-country, for
hard work, dedication, and love of the sport. Your ultimate
dreams have become a reality. With the deepest appreciation, the
Lady Titans." In 1978, cross-country was not a girls sport at Lumen Christi. Hunting, then a junior, was competing with the boys team. "When I ran on the boys team it raised some eyebrows," said Hunting, who now lives in Okemos. "At first, a lot of people thought I couldn't cut it and would quit. After awhile, the boys accepted me, but they thought it was kind of a joke." Throughout that season, Hunting had unwavering support from boys coach Patsy Arpino. "Mr. Arpino gave me the belief in myself that I could put a girls team together," Hunting said. Hunting then approached the late Jim Crowley, the school's football coach and assistant principal, about starting a girls team. Crowley said he would consider it if --- and here was the condition that worried Hunting --- enough girls could be convinced to train for the team in the summer and if a coach could be found. The second part was easy, Mike Woolsey, a former Lumen Christi standout runner, had been helping the boys team. Hunting asked him if he was available. "I said, 'Sure, I'll coach,'" Woolsey said. "I didn't think she had much of a chance of getting a team together." But Hunting would not be denied. She gathered all the distance runners from the track team. "I literally had to beg and plead with people to work out," Hunting said. It paid off. Every day, Hunting and others would run near the school, in groups ranging up to eight. And they would be sure to run by Crowley's office window and wave. Every day. The good news came in August 1979. Christi would have a girls cross-country team for the first time. "I remember sitting there, laughing and crying," Hunting said. " I was overjoyed, but I also remember thinking, 'Oh my gosh, what are we going to do now?'" Fulfilling his promise, Woolsey took over as coach. The earliest uniforms were hand-me-downs from the boys team. "The jerseys were so big, we had to wear T-shirts underneath, " Hunting said. Goals were hardly lofty. "I think our main goal was by the end of the season to have nobody quit and to get the team started," Woolsey said. All eight runners remained on the squad and the team qualified for the Class B state meet, finishing 11th. It was a bittersweet year for Hunting, the team's lone senior. She became the first non-cheerleader in school history to be named homecoming queen. "I remember all the girls congratulating me and saying that we would now have a jock as homecoming queen," Hunting said. Three weeks later, she found out she had mononucleosis and would not be able to run in the state meet. "That was probably the most heart-breaking thing for me," she said. On the bus trip back from the state meet, several of the Christi freshmen began talking about the experience and how they wanted to win a state title. "So our goal was before they graduated, we wanted to be state champions," Woolsey said. "Their senior year was the first year we won the state championship." That was in 1982, by a team led by Barb Wallace and Lorrie Konopacki. Two more state titles followed in 1983 and 1984. "Sometimes it's harder to win a state title after you've won a couple," Woolsey said. "You have to stay hungry. I've learned a lot more from losing state titles than I have from winning. Sometimes, I think our runners lose sight of what it took to get that first state championship and think that by naturally putting on a Lumen Christi uniform, you're automatically going to win the state. It doesn't work that way." A case in point was the 1984 team, which overcame adversity to win state. No. 1 runner Charlotte Huffer broke her foot in the regionals and another top runner, Julie Ziegler, had collapsed in the regional. The team regrouped and with freshman Kari Frederick leading the way, scored a win. "I was so new to it, I was pretty much in awe," said Frederick, now a graduate student at Northwestern University. "The girls who were seniors kind of took me under their wing. I had been in activities with older girls where they weren't exactly overly friendly. These girls weren't like that. I felt like I was part of a big family." Christi went on to win titles in 1986, 1990, and 1991. In the latter two years, the Titans rebounded from second-place finishes in the regional to capture state titles. "We want to peak at the end of October," Woolsey said. "We gear everything to that. The last week is all mental. We kind of take it easy in workouts. The whole thing is getting the team believing they can win." Woolsey's major goal is for his teams to fulfill their potential. "Our team goal is always to be the best team we can be at the end of the season," Woolsey said. "Then our secondary goal is to win a state championship." |
