Wyandotte Girls Track Team Is a Runaway Success

Sometimes less is more.

Wyandotte girls track team appears to be one of these cases.

With only 35 girls on the team (last year's squad had 50 girls), the Bears have a relatively small team by prep track standards.

That said, the squad, led by coach Krissy Powers, has been stellar to open the 2011 campaign. The girls have dominated opponents, even giving Downriver powerhouse, Woodhaven High School, a run for the money.

Roosevelt lost, 69-68, in a meet that was quite controversial and could have easily gone the Bears' way. Regardless of the outcome, however, the result sent a resounding notice to the rest of the Downriver League that Roosevelt is a force to be reckoned with this season.

“Our goal is to win the league,” Powers said. “I think we have a good all-around team this year, and I think it’s something we can do.”

Senior Cara Smock leads the Bears both on the track and off. Smock, along with a collection of fellow upperclassmen on the roster, has taken some of the younger talent on the team and helped them understand what it means to be a varsity track athlete.

“It’s not just about running as fast as you can every race from start to finish,” Powers said. “There is a lot of strategy involved, a lot. The seniors understand this, while the younger girls have to learn this yet. But, our seniors are really helping them do that.”

A handful of these younger players are nothing short of exceptional, the coach said.

Freshmen Adaysha Parker, Nicole Ostrowitz and Mallory Bentley are extremely talented runners and instrumental components of the team already.

“We do have some very good freshmen on this year’s team,” Powers said. “For example, Adaysha hasn’t lost a race yet, and Nicole and Mallory have been really impressive so far. These are freshmen competing against seniors a lot of the time. That’s very impressive for them to do this well.”

The emergence of this younger group of standouts has pushed the Bears into the mix for a league title, along with the aforementioned Woodhaven squad. It’s also placed several members of the team in the discussion for the state meet at the end of the season.

“I’m always looking to set more goals,” Powers said. “And one more for us is to send as many girls to states as we can. Every year we seem to get a couple, but this year we want to see more girls qualify for the state meet.”

The potential to reach all the goals set forth by the coach is certainly there, especially considering the team is still rounding into shape.

“Right now, I think we’re right where we ought to be as a team," Powers said. “Individually, we have some girls who are where I want them to be, and others who aren’t there yet. There’s room for improvement, lots of it in fact.”

This is a scary fact to the rest of the league–given the fact this squad trounced a pretty good Trenton High School team, 91.5-39.5, early in the season.

“These girls just never give up,” Powers said. “They all seem to understand what we’re working for and how to be a team, too, which is tough in track. There’s just a great team atmosphere this year. It’s fun.”

The Bears' next meet is at 4 p.m. Friday at the Gibraltar Carlson Invitational.