Congratulations to all the runners on their great effort on a hot humid day at Sandhills. There were 87 teams and almost 3000 athletes participating in the 7 races.

In the boys International race the Chapin team was 29th, in the boys 7-9 grade Open race they finished 16th and in the Open 10-12 grade race the boys finished 31st.

The first home meet of the season is a winner for the boys cross country team!! Congratulations to all the athletes!!

REMEMBER THAT WINNERS DO WHAT LOSERS DON’T WANT TO DO.

The history of Chapin Cross-Country consists of many successful teams and individuals. When Coach LeGrand began coaching in 1981 the team was made up of 7 runners. Five of these were in the 8th grade (Coach Nutt’s son was on of them). We only had a boys’ team and finished in 8th place at the State Meet. In 1982 two girls joined the team and in 1984 Chapin had it’s first full girls’ team. By 1990 the Chapin team had grown to over 40 athletes and this was the year
that the Lord of Discipline, Coach Nutt, became the assistant cross-country coach. In 2002 Coach Nutt ended her reign as assistant coach and retired. Coach Morris was named the assistant coach and brought a wealth of experience and a positive attitude to Chapin Cross-
Country. Chapin’s c/c team now numbers in the 60’s. Coach Mark Shelley became the third assistant coach for Chapin in 2005. In 2009, Coach George Hines become only the 4th assistant coach named in 20 years.

We are proud of the team spirit of Chapin Cross-Country. Every athlete has individual goals and team goals and team members encourage and support each other in practice and at meets.
The girls’ have won 4 State Championships and 3 State Runners up titles. The boys’ have won one State Championship and 3 State runners up. No other region 3AA or region 4AAA school has ever won the girls region Cross-Country Championship. The Chapin boys and girls have combined for 29 region championships. The boys finished as runners up in 2001, 2002 2005 and 2011 and have been region champions every year with these exceptions (the region champ won state championship in 2001 and 2002). Both the girls and boys won the AAA region championship in CHS’s first year as a AAA school (2004) with the girls repeating in 2005. Since 1981 the boys and girls together have run in 58 state meets. They have finished in the top ten 52 times and in the top five 37 times. The girls hold a state record for finishing in the top 10 at state for 22 consecutive years. The girls were 3rd place finishers at the Disney Cross Country Classic in 2006 while the boys were 4th and Luke Lovelace was the individual champion. In the 2007 Disney Classic the girls were second by 1 point and the boys 3rd, the JV boys 2nd and Luke Lovelace again ran the best time for all races capturing the individual title. The 2008 Disney Classic added an Elite division of the top 20 invited teams. Chapin boys were 3rd and the girls 6th in the Elite division. In the 2009 Disney Cross Country Classic the teams competed in the Invitational division. Chapin boys finished in 3rd place and the girls placed 4th missing 3rd by 3 points. Heath Lorick and Lannon McCoy finished in 2nd place. Carson Barnes received a medal with his 5th place finish and Lauren Steedley received a medal with her 13th place finish. The 2010 Disney Cross Country Classic teams returned to compete in the Invitational division. The girl’s team won 3rd place and Lauren Steedly and Kathleen Mirgon earned a place on the All Disney Cross Country team with a 7th and 9th place finish. The boy’s team won their first Disney Cross Country Classic championship placing 5 of their 7 runners on the All Disney Cross Classic team. Heath Lorick won the Invitational divison with Thomas Fitzpatrick placing 3rd (missing 2nd place by 1/1000 of a second), Jonathan Day finished 9th, Hunter McGahee finished 10th and Alex Wallace finished in 14th. Five of the six Disney Cross Country Classic teams that have participated in this event, for the past 6 years, have earned a Mickey Trophy.

Several runners have been named to the Shrine Bowl Ball Run team. This is a team made up of the best senior runners in the state from all classifications. Chapin Shrine Bowl athletes were:

Todd Sharpley
Jason Morris
Andy Brooks
Brian Hertzberg
Mike Schaming
David Vinson
Criston Dailey
Matthew Cregger
Luke Lovelace
Thomas McGuire
Claudia Nunez
Ashlyn Ruczko
Eric Rice
Russell Baker
Carson Barnes
Jonathan Day
Heath Lorick

Chapin has also sent numerous runners to compete on the college level. They include:

USC-Spartanburg – Mile Wallace, Joe Keeton, Jimmy Major, Crystal Caudill
Erskine – Troy Hammett
Furman – Johnny Nutt, Robert Williams, Katie Snead
Winthrop – Christie Frick, Andy Brooks, Craig Williams
Brevard College – Jason Morris, Andrew King
Lander – Mellissa Hendrickson, Olga Nunez, Claudia Nunez Lopes
Coker – Maggie Biviano
Francis Marion – Matt Biviano (Academic All-American), Allison Frick
US Coast Guard Academy – Catherine Mellette
West Point – Nancy Mellette
Lewis and Clark – Anne Stone
Utah State – Janine Jensen
Columbia College – Brook Lindler, Ashley Davis
Wesleyan – Nora Ryan
USC Columbia – Criston Dailey
Wingate – Ben Lovelace, Amber Hines(Academic All American)
Wofford – Ashley Adamson, David Vinson, Russell Baker, Hunter McGahee
Citadel – Chris Cannon
Harding University – Matthew Cregger (Academic All American)
Spartanburg Methodist – Justin Bourgoyne
Prebyterian College – Becca Sloan
USC Aiken – Nicole Maitland
University of Louisville – Luke Lovelace
USC Aiken – Julia Von Vollenhoven
Anderson College – Alex Wallace
USC – Lannon McCoy
Prebyterian College – Hayley McCoy
UNC Greensboro – Heath Lorick

Chapin Alumni have also received many honors at the college level.

Ashley Adamson was named most valuable track athlete at Wofford where she holds the school record in the 800 meters. Crystal Caudill was named the most improved at USC Spartanburg for cross-country. Criston Dailey received an SEC and National Championship ring at USC!
Amber Hines is runner of the year for her conference and has set a new school record in two distances for Wingate University where she qualified for the National Championships and was academic All American for 3 consecutive years. Matthew Cregger made the National Championships and was twice Academic All American at Harding University where he was the only non foreign runner in the top 5 runners. Luke Lovelace made the National qualifiers for the Big East at Louisville as a freshman in the 5k on the track. Luke also holds the freshman record in the 1500 meters.

As we enter the new season the challenge before us is to maintain the tradition of Chapin Cross-Country!

BEING READY IS NOT ENOUGH RUNNERS HAVE TO BE PREPARED

Things to do to be successful:
Be at practice
Be on time
Never cut the course
Always be positive
Get to know your teammates
Encourage and support your teammates
Always stretch before and after a race or practice
Always run a warm up and cool down
Set an example for others with your work habits
Communicate clearly, honestly, and openly with your coaches
Always talk with coaches about concerns, potential injuries, or concerns about teammates
Have Fun!!!

Good things to know about uniforms:
Uniforms are issued only after an athlete is able to run 3 miles without walking for 3 days in a row
Uniforms are given out in the order you finish at time trials, for instance the #1 runner get first
choice, and so on.
You can take the uniform of anyone you finish ahead of in a race (coaches will supervise the
exchange of uniforms.)

WHOEVER STOPS BEING BETTER STOPS BEING GOOD

What a fantastic start to the 2012 CC season!!
The boys varsity was 3rd overall and Fabian Hardy led the team earning all county honors! The JV team also finished 3rd!