Stadtlander set pace for champ Lady Bulldogs

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Stadtlander set pace for champ Lady Bulldogs

Sports

Wednesday, 26 January 2011 12:46

News-Gazette Photo/Andrew Sullivan

Ashlyn Stadtlander won the Orange Belt Conference championship and helped St. Cloud qualify for the Class 3A state cross country meet.

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
Ashlyn Stadtlander and her St. Cloud High cross country teammates are by any measure completely normal-looking young ladies, but something happened to them when they gathered before a race.
From September through November, they transformed into a Nike-clad tsunami that shocked and swept away its competition.
They, in fact, stunned themselves.
Harmony, with a senior-laden lineup, was the favorite to dominate local races, but that didn’t happen.
Stadtlander, the individual champion, led St. Cloud to a stunning upset at the Orange Belt Conference meet at Harmony. Stadtlander, Anaya Reid and Ashlyn’s twin sister, Katelyn Stadtlander, took the top three spots. Rebecca Davis and Taylor Wassum rounded out the Lady Dogs’ top five.
Were the Lady Bulldogs surprised by their success?
“Yes,” was the succinct answer from Stadtlander, who is the Osceola News-Gazette Female Cross Country Runner of the Year.
“It was kind of a shock. We kind of knew at the start of the season that if we worked hard that we could be a good team,” she said. “Coach (Kevin) Harkema is a great coach. He pushed us and told us that we could do it if we worked hard enough.”
The Stadtlanders, juniors, were integral parts of St. Cloud’s success. The team qualified for the state meet for the first time in a decade and placed 14th in Class 3A.
“It’s pretty overwhelming, especially if you haven’t been there before,” Ashlyn said. “We didn’t run our best times, but we did all right. Of course, we’ll be a little better next time.”
Stadtlander is a first-time cross country athlete after trying volleyball as a freshman and a sophomore. She ran track for the Lady Bulldogs and decided to try something different last fall.
“Volleyball was fun, but it wasn’t going to help me as far as getting a scholarship. Cross country is probably a better opportunity for me,” she said.
Especially if she continues to improve a best time (20:11) that dropped like mercury in January during the season.
“I think I can get into the mid-19s next year,” she said.
Harkema said he believed Ashlyn would have a good season despite her inexperience.
“I always knew she would be good if she ran cross country because of how successful she was in track without a running base,” he said. Her fitness started showing early but being her first cross country season she had to learn how to race a little bit.
“She’s an amazing person on and off the athletic fields, and I’m proud to be her coach.”
Her twin sister provides in-house competition, Ashlyn said.
“We’re competitive. For awhile it was like I didn’t think I could beat her; then she got injured and I started beating her,” she said.
In fact, Katelyn Stadtlander had a surgical procedure in December to remedy pain in her shin.
“They inserted a rod, but the recuperation is supposed to be only four to six weeks,” said Ashlyn, who, as a pre-nursing student, will soon know about many medical procedures.
She plans to run the 1,600 and 3,200 during track season, which gets under way next month, as well as the 4 x 800 relay.
With the entire team returning next season, Stadtlander is looking forward to a rewarding senior year.
“I think a top 10 finish at the state meet is something we can easily do,” she said.