Soaring to a state championship

It’s been over a week since their history making state track and field championship and for Superior Bobcats Nicole Stroot, Kinzie Cooper and Geneva Plakke the victory still hasn’t sunk in.

Even during the winding events of the meet the trio and their coaches weren’t sure a championship would happen.

“We really weren’t quite sure,” Coach Bajin Smith said. “We were muddled in points and you (Stroot) were still competing. I mean Geneva and Kinzie were done and we were just trying to get points gathered up and figure it out…they really weren’t sure.”

It wasn’t until after Stroot’s victory in the 200-meter hurdles and running numbers that the victory seemed possible. Even still there were events yet to take place – events that the Bobcats were not competing in and their biggest competition was.

“We knew that there were some pretty good events coming up that we weren’t in and some teams that were close to us were,” Smith said. “Seeley Lake was nipping at our heels and North Star was right there and they had the mile relay yet to run. But we were quite a bit ahead of them and by that time we kind of figured it out.”

In spite of the numbers showing the victory was sealed, the trio still had feelings of disbelief and shock.

“It was a surprise,” Stroot said of the victory.

“We couldn’t stop smiling,” Plakke added. “Reality didn’t set in for a while.”

The numbers don’t lie however and Stroot’s three event victories along with Cooper’s victory in the pole vault and Plakke’s fifth place finish in the 3,200 were more than enough to give the Lady Bobcats the state title.

Plakke ran cross-country her freshman year and then moved to Superior. Since the school doesn’t have a cross-country team classmates and coaches told her she should run distance events.

“Last year I didn’t do it because I hate running,” Plakke said. “But this year I did it because it’s what I’m good at. I finally decided to do it because of Jim Cox. He really wanted me to go out and when he passed away it motivated me to run. So I did it this year and I’ll be back next year.”

Cox and his memory were an instrumental part of the success the Lady Bobcats had this season on the track.

“He’s the one that believed we could from the beginning,” Stroot said. “He got the idea in our head and ever since he passed away he was our motivation. All throughout the races, even when we wanted to quit during practice or something, we would always keep him in mind. He helped us get through the hard times.”

Smith was quick to add that on the coaching side they “stuck to his game plan” throughout the season. Cox would consistently talk to Head Coach Jamie Toivonen about the line-up of the team and what events they should compete in during the season in order to have the best shot at winning state.

“He had a dream that he told her about that we won state with 54 points,” Plakke added.

Cox’s dream was about as close to reality as possible and the Bobcats won with a score of 58. He was just one of the many sources of motivation the trio had during the season – Principal Allan Labbe was also a huge support system for the girls and he told them to run like Freddy Krueger was chasing them and Brad Pitt was in front of them.

“But they didn’t like Brad Pitt so they changed it to Channing Tatum,” Labbe said.

“Mr. Labbe was probably my biggest motivation overall,” Plakke added. “I always care what he thinks.”

On top of the outside support, Stroot was quick to mention the effort of the entire coaching staff for the track team – who stepped into big shoes on short notice.

“We were really impressed with our coaches,” Stroot said. “You couldn’t have asked for a better group of coaches.”

“They all have a piece of the championship,” Cooper added.

Plakke also mentioned all of the coaches “cared about us individually” both in athletics as well as in the classroom.

For Smith and the rest of the coaching staff, the chance to work closely with such a small team was “a lot of fun.”

“These kids are really easy to coach and they are really motivated,” Smith said. “Our numbers weren’t the best this year because we were changing some things. These kids though are amazing when it comes to accountability and hard work. We try to stress that so much to them – in this sport you have to be so self-motivated if you want to make it to the next level and I think a few times they mentioned to us the practices were tough but it was one of those things that helped them prevail. Mentally they stepped up and went to the next level.”

Stepping up to the challenge of tough practices and even tougher competition paid off for the trio, not only because of the title but because of the lasting friendships they made.

“I got to know these girls well and I didn’t really know them before,” Plakke said. “It makes me smile just thinking about it.”

Cooper and Stroot graduated from Superior High School on Sunday and as Stroot said, winning the title helped them finish their high-school careers “with a bang.”

“It’s a nice ending,” Cooper said.