On November 6 of 2021, Grayslake Central’s girls cross country team won the state championship—the first time ever in Grayslake Central history. Months of practice and preparation starting in June led to this history-making victory, as well as a focus on team building and relationships. 

Positive relationships between teammates have proved their value in competitive sports of all kinds. This season, senior captains did their part to create a supportive environment for all members of the team.

“What I’ve been trying to do in my senior year is establish a place where we can all be friends. Something we always try to do is include everybody and make sure that they have someone to talk to and someone to run with. How can you encourage anyone if you don’t even know them?” said team captain Grace Kokkin.

The girls came into the summer with a solid foundation built on their commitment to a positive team environment. They began summer camp in June with workouts three days per week designed to improve their endurance, speed, strength, and condition them for the competition season ahead.

Kokkin adds that, “People don’t realize how much time we [put] in after school and out of practice just to make sure that we get to where we want to be.”

During the regular season, the team saw glimpses of success, which foreshadowed their state qualification.

“One of our meets called ‘first to the finish’ is the pre-state meet, and our second meet of the season. In all of my four years it had been a big meet, but I never thought that we could actually win it–then we won it…early on that’s when we knew that we had a chance at [winning the state meet],” said Kokkin.

The team saw their share of adversity throughout the season. The season was complicated by late-season injuries and illness, but the team found their way to the state series with a full squad of seven competitors and as many alternates. 

Head cross country coach and Spanish teacher, Jimmy Centella said, “We started off really strong and then we had a lot of set-backs. Some injuries, some illnesses. We were at the point where we were getting down to the last month of the season and I’m like, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to be fully healthy for the state series.’”

The girls’ health issues set the team back. “We were predicted to be second in-state, but once people started getting sick or injured our predicted ranking dropped down drastically. But, we were able to pick ourselves up and get back to where we were originally,” said Peramanu.

Despite waning expectations for the team as the state series approached, the girls found themselves back where they wanted to be, and on their way to the state series.

The late-fall final race took place in Peoria at Detweiller Park. The race was three miles long, with all seven girls finishing between 17:35.93 and 19:22.48. Out of 236 runners from 28 high schools, Bella Domier, Sara Armstrong, Sofia Witt, Bryn Sato, Katie Armstrong, Suhani Peramanu and Grace Kokkin out scored them all to secure first place in the series, and the 2A Division State Title.

The girls celebrated their hard-earned victory with a parade and escort organized with the Grayslake Police and Fire Departments and a school-wide assembly. Three months later, Coach Centella and the girls are looking towards the future.

Senior, Suhani Peramanu improved drastically from her freshman year and ran in the state series this year. Her break-through season saw new personal records. Peramanu reflects, “I wasn’t ever an amazing runner before this year, but [winning state] gave me the confidence to [see] how I can do great things in life and how our team is so great and that working together is a really powerful force.”

“I feel like we have room to grow, which is exciting because we were already very strong and I think that we have a chance to be even stronger next year,” said Centella.