While field hockey and soccer players completed their sports seasons last Saturday, and the football season ends next Saturday, the fall sports season came to a close the Oct. 27 for cross country runners.

For some cross country runners in particular, this was a very special year – not because a conference, regional or state title was won – but because a milestone was reached.

Such a case is Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln, a school that, this year, produced its first qualifiers for the girls regional and state cross country meets.

You can expect to hear and read more about these runners in the future, since seven of the nine team members are freshmen.

That Mattanawcook was able to qualify for postseason competition is a tribute to the students’ youthful determination both on and off the course.

It takes determination, and a little naive boldness, for example, just to go after the person you want for a coach. And a little good luck to have that person say yes.

When Gary Stevens prepared to moved on to Bonny Eagle High School in West Buxton at the end of the 1988-89 school year, Mattanawcook was about to lose its cross country coach. So what did the kids do? They looked around for a likely candidate and “drafted” him. That candidate was English teacher and track coach John Norris.

“When the kids learned that Mr. Stevens was moving on, one of the kids came up to me and said some of the team members `decided’ I should be the cross country coach,” he said. Once the position did become available, and Norris had given it thoughtful consideration, he applied, and was appointed.

Norris found the decision a most satisfying one, and one that produced a surprise on a very special day.

“They all had a good season,” he said of the nine-member girls team.

“One of the big things I like about cross country is the fact everybody runs every time out – except for the last few races – and that everybody counts toward the final results. But even more important, it’s a sport where you don’t have to worry about getting playing time, because you know you will be running, and every time out you get a chance to improve.”

What made this season even a little sweeter for the girls was that they reached their milestone – qualifying for the state meet – on their coach’s birthday.

It was their way of saying “Happy Birthday, Coach,” and a present they worked very hard to give him. And then, in the state meet, the girls ran their best times of the year.

Competing in their first regional and state meet were senior Kendra Michaud; junior Becki LaChance; sophomores Kendra Turner and Christine Wooley; and freshmen Melissa Garner, Alison Lane and Kara LaChance. Completing the first team from Mattanawcook to qualify for postseason competition are two more freshmen, Kelly Morrison and Cherie Porter.

“Having the girls qualify for the states on my birthday was a great present,” Norris said of the regional meet. “That meet, and the state meet, were good days for them. It’s days like that that make it all worth your while.”