For the second year in a row, the Lincoln Cross Country Girls Team competed at the Nike Cross Nationals competition. Freshman and Portland Interscholastic League (PIL) player of the year, Ellery Lincoln, attributed her and the team’s success to the coaching staff, lead by Eric Dettman.
“One thing that I said to my coaches this summer was that I just wanted to shock myself, and now they won’t stop repeating it to me before every race,” said Lincoln.
The team finished second at the state competition. Dettman, while disappointed by the finish, believed his team had greater potential for the national championship.
“I think [state] has fueled us for this postseason run, and qualifying for nationals and trying to do some special things this weekend [at nationals],” said Dettman.
Media Platform, The Stride Report, ranked Lincoln girls as the 10th best team in the country going into nationals.
“But Saturday [nationals] just wasn’t our day,” said Lincoln.
The team finished 20th at nationals with seven athletes in the top 200, an improvement from last year where only two qualified. However, they believe they could have done better.
“We went in knowing we had the ability to be a top five team on a good day,” said Lincoln.
Regardless of the results at nationals, the team has competed at the highest national level in part due to Dettman’s coaching philosophy built off of three core values: team camaraderie, being the best version of yourself and always coming to practice prepared.
“If we prepare all season to win a state [or nationals] title, and we don’t win, is that season a failure? No. There is disappointment that we can find within that, but if we have done everything we can to prepare for that moment, that is a pretty special moment,” said Dettman.
