President Frank Perez opened the virtual meeting of the Centerville Rotary Club and welcomed everyone on Zoom. Frank Perez led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Sivaji Subramaniam led  us in prayer today.

 

Boyd Preston shared information about the project selected and approved by the Rotary Board this week for our 50th Anniversary. He noted the committee evaluated ideas from our five local government entities - Centerville, Washington Township, Library, Schools & Park District. They used the criteria developed by the club at an earlier meeting. Project that surfaced as one that met all of our criteria was at Grant Park, McEwen Road entrance. The Park District master plan is for improvements to make this the new main entrance to the park. Additional parking is needed and the new lot will go where our Rotary memorial is now. Our project includes moving the Rotary memorial to a more prominent area, as the main entrance to the trails. We will install a new Rotary memorial with new bricks and plantings. Some trees will be moved, some kept in place, and for any that need to be taken down, we will plant 5 new saplings. We will also plant a pollinator garden with interpretive signs along an ADA accessible path the Park District is putting in. This project supports the Environment - a new focus area of Rotary International. Ginger Clark said the Park District is thrilled they were selected and she’s excited to work on it from both the Rotary and Park District perspectives.

 

President Frank gave these announcements:

 

Arnie Biondo noted Wayne Davis will be the speaker at a club meeting in May to show us all around the renovated Yankee Trace.

 

 

Boyd Preston was our Sergeant at arms today.

Arnie Biondo gave $15 for our speakers and noted since he’s now retired, he’s in HIlton Head doing nothing.

Boyd Preston gave $20 for the 50th Anniversary project and to thank the Park District for helping us put it together.

Chuck King gave $20 as he bought a new car on Sunday and noted he has two cars he’ll sell at a very good price.

Ron Hollenbeck gave $10 to recognize our speakers and for the wonderful progress of the Golf and 50th Anniversary Committees.

Harvey gave $20 to announce his granddaughter moved to Washington, D.C. He is sad to see her go so far away, but excited for her trying for job at Library of Congress.

Sofie Ameloot gave $10 noting her husband used to work at Library of Congress, to thank Boyd, Arnie, Carol and the committees for their great work and to celebrated getting her first shot. Her Daughter Marie-Therese is going to Europe as au pair to learn French better and will then stay to for studies!

Carol Kennard gave $20 to thank Boyd for all of his efforts collecting information on all of the potential projects so the committee could fairly evaluate each, and for his willingness to take leadership with this important part of our 50th Anniversary.

Frank Perez gave $20 noting his wife is retiring July 1 from Pri-Med but agreed to be Chief Medical Officer starting in May (not really retiring!)

Carol Sue Galloway gave a $10 donation today.

 

 

 

Arnie introduced our speaker, David Dobson, who shared information about the success of the CHS Girl’s Cross Country Team. Varsity team members Emma Bucher and Nikki Jindal also joined. Arnie mentioned that David also ran from middle school through college and has coached at Centerville High School for 21 years. The Girls Cross Country (CGXC) team qualified for state 18 out of the last 21 years, took 2nd place in 2012 & 2018, and have been state champs 5 of last 7 years. Several members have also been individual champs.

 

Dave said the most frequent question he is asked is, “Are you coaching this season?” Followed by, “Remind me is this cross country or track?” He finds it hard to understand why people confuse the two sports. “How do you coach running - isn’t it JUST running?" Many feel running isn’t a skill based sport - but he teaches the nuances of running, and pacing yourself, not just running.

 

 

If coming out for notoriety, this is not your sport, as they don’t get much attention. If you’re coming out to be part of a team, this is it. He coaches his runners to “challenge yourself to your believed limits and then believing your limits are wrong.” Success comes from not relying on a star player, but creating active, alive energy between players instead.

 

 

So what is cross country? It’s a 5k race completed mostly on grass/trails; 7 runners, 5 count toward team score. Places of top 5 runners is compared to other teams and If there’s a tie, #6 runner is tie breaker.

 

Nikki Jindal is one of top record holders at CHS with a time of 19:03. Emma Bucher is the most decorated runner at CHS - 2017 and 2020 state teams and individual state champ this fall. She holds the school record with fasted time of 17:17. She will attend OSU school next year.

 

 

Nikki said she is one of 60 girls on team and they’ve been successful by following these 5 values:

 

 

They have a runner of the week program where fellow athletes nominate individuals, telling why they deserve the recognition, and then the coaches pick. Nikki talked about how the team camp in summer, allows them to learn about their teammates and develop a closeness through challenges, games and activities. Each year the team chooses a theme, and Nikki shared the themes during her high school career:

 

 

They spend 48 weeks per year training, but also get involved in other things like a book club. CGXC also hosts a kids camp in July - teaching warm up techniques, running form, etc.

 

 

Emma Bucher said she has been a member since her freshman year and is now a senior. She started the season with a calf strain and missed the first 2 meets. She said they focused on working together throughout the season, including extra Varsity workouts to help take them to the next level.

 

 

Mia Robillard was their #1 runner who also played soccer; competed in both during the same season. Not always a XC practices, but team supported her at soccer matches.

 

Emma said schools went back to partial in-person classed on Oct 19, but the team decided to stay with at-home learning to not risk getting COVID that could impact the season. In the post season this year, the team won District, Regionals, and State!

 

 

They arrived at the State meet a day ahead tot check the course and get a feel for it. Decorate school vans, have dinner with Varsity and coaches. This year they were surprised with a sendoff parade! The top 5 ran within a minute of each other. Emma ran shoulder to shoulder with Mia and in the last 800 meters, they found themselves them in 1st and 2nd place. Several Varsity had personal records at the state meet.

 

 

Coach Dobson said CHS took 1st place at the state meet on Saturday November 7. He said they hadn’t won any race until the last two in the season.

 

Ubuntu means, I am Because We are - their overriding theme. It’s not a word, but a way of life that inspires the team to achieve at high levels. “It was a way of life, that day it was a way of racing.”

 

 

Coach said they will have 5 returning Varsity runners next year. 90% of team sticks with the Varsity team, even if not competing - they attend all meets and support each other. The Varsity runners are chosen based on running times and/or coaches decision. In non-COVID year, they would typically take 7 alternates to state, although they get 1 official alternate.

President Frank congratulated the team and thanked them for sharing information with the club, and then led reciting of the 4-Way Test.