Sep. 29—When Pacelli head coach Ryan Bickler is asked how long it’s been since the Shamrocks have had a boys cross country team comparable to this year’s quad, he has to go way back.
After a bit of thought, he comes up with the year 1993, making it more than three decades since Pacelli has had a team like this year’s squad, which has made a name for itself while competing against bigger schools.
Grayson Bickler is the lone senior in the varsity rotation for the Shamrocks and their top runners are freshman Zemecha McManus and sophomore Isaac Johnson.
Grayson said the camaraderie on the team has helped it improve, while not getting stressed out about results.
“We have a lot of fun, and we do a lot of things together as a team. It’s not just the running aspect that we get out of it,” Grayson said. “Knowing that Isaac and Zemecha are up there and they need us in the back for the team score; if you see a guy ahead of you, you try to close that gap. At the beginning of the year, we weren’t as motivated but we’ve started to realize what we can do as a group.”
The Shamrocks have been able to compete at a high level this year, including a fourth place finish in the 16-team Stewartville Invite on Aug. 28, a second place finish in the NRHEG Invite on Sept. 16, and a first place finish in Blooming Prairie on Sept. 9.
McManus, a freshman, took 123rd at the Class A state cross country meet last year for the Shamrocks. He and Johnson have been running neck and neck together this fall.
“We have a lot of good runners this year,” Johnson said. “If we have a teammate in front of us, we always try to run with them. I’m just hoping I can make it to state (with Zemecha) this year. He’s hurt right now, but I’m hoping he can make a quick recovery. It’s a really good feeling when Zemecha and I are up in the top 10 with all of the bigger schools around us.”
Pacelli has had a lot of PR finishes this season and the team is likely to run even faster if the weather ever dips into the 50s or 60s for a meet.
Not that the team is making any excuses.
“We know what we can do as a team and what we can achieve. We’ve just got to work as hard as we can,” McManus said. “We have potential and we just have to utilize it. We have great coaches, who push us to our limits.”
The Shamrocks have all gained confidence and improved this season and it’s carried over to their friendships as well. Pacelli junior Alec Klingfus said the team that gets along, goes along.
“We’re really close as a team and we all hang out outside of the sport,” Klingfus said. “It means a lot for us to have a Pacelli team, where it’s really just us doing it.”
