It’s the time in the cross country season when everything is put on the line — literally and figuratively — so Westlake girls coach Dennis Sullivan is putting everything on the line.
“The goal the first time I met them was, ‘Let’s win a state championship,’” Sullivan said. “I told them that we have to be in a position to line up on Saturday and be mentally and physically ready to compete with the kids who are really, really good. If we line up on Saturday and we’re confident and we’re healthy and our mind’s in the right place, we have a chance. Just run the race, and when you get done be proud of yourself. Good things will happen.”
Very ambitious for a first-year high school coach who inherited a program that had been successful, but the high-water mark was a 13th place finish in the 2020 state meet — the Demons also placed 15th in the state last year. The entire top seven returned each of the last two years, so the success is not a surprise. In fact, this could be viewed as the next natural step in a progression that was started by former coach Travis Haselswerdt, who retired from coaching last spring.
“I think Travis did a great job when he was here,” Sullivan said. “I expected this from these kids. But every week you just get more and more impressed with them and more and more proud of them. They just keep working so hard and they love to race, and they love to win. It’s a nice chemistry right now because I’d say we’re headed in the right direction.”
But it’s a wholesale jump to go from a program that battled to get the final state qualifying spot in last year’s regional meet to being one that is a contender for a state championship after winning its first regional title. The Demons will compete in the state meet Nov. 5 at Fortress Obetz in suburban Columbus.
At the heart of the program’s growth is Sullivan, a seventh-grade world history teacher at Westlake’s Burneson Middle School who was in charge of the middle school cross country program for many years and also taught and coached the majority of the members of the high school squad.
“I think he serves a really important role,” said junior Sarah Peer, the team’s top runner. “He’s not just telling us our workouts and what we’re going to do every day. He’s focused on us mentally, physically and emotionally getting to the starting line so we can compete and do our best all together.”
There have been changes to the training program. The overall mileage hasn’t changed that much, but how they got to that total is different. And while the training certainly is important, the athletes agree that the biggest change with Sullivan has been with the culture of the program.
“A lot of it is team culture,” said Sydney Peer, the lone senior in the top five. “In the past we’ve had a lot of drama. A lot of girls didn’t really get along as well. I really liked our old coach, but it just wasn’t the same. Coach Sullivan has brought a whole different vibe. He is close with all the girls. He plays a big part with the team culture because he makes it a better place to be. I think this year we’re all 10 times closer than we were last year. Honestly, that’s one of the most important things for having a good team.”
Sullivan’s handling of Sydney Peer has resulted in perhaps the most dramatic change for the team. Sarah Peer and Ellie Irwin were both All-Ohio last year. Christina Ware has made a huge step from last year and freshman Julia Richards has added much-needed depth. The top seven is rounded out by Maggie Hennessey and Sarah Colman.
But Sydney Peer has gone from being a soccer player who also runs to being a runner who also plays soccer. Last year she placed 81st in the regional meet and this past weekend she was seventh. She currently is fielding offers from Division I college programs and scheduling official visits.
“Ever since I was a freshman, I’ve been a full-time soccer player and part-time cross country runner,” Peer said. “I would come to practice maybe once a week and compete just on the weekends. It was working fine for the level that the team was at, but this year, with the new coach, he’s got high expectations and he kept telling me, ‘You’ve got so much potential.’ ”
Peer said Sullivan spent much of the summer trying to convince her that her athletic future was in running if only she would commit to it. At one point during the summer, she said she decided to stop running altogether for fear that she would burn out and both of her teams would suffer.
“I just said, ‘I’m sorry, it’s too much pressure, I can’t do this.’” she said. “And he said, ‘Just come when you want.’ He took all the pressure off of me. And then I just kind of started showing up more and more and more and I saw my times start to drop and our team ranking going higher and higher. Pretty soon, I was coming to cross country practice almost every day.”
The result is a team that is extremely talented and close-knit, one that aspires to be atop the podium at Fortress Obetz.
“We want to win,” said Sarah Peer. “That’s our overall goal. We’re going to go out there and work as hard as we can to get in that first-place spot. But, I mean, to be even in the top three at the end of the year would be just amazing.”
