For Gulf, team unity takes priority

This article appeared in the Pasco edition of the St. Petersburg Times on Oct. 13, 1998.

PHOTO CAPTION: Gulf coach Dean Lofton says this is "the strongest girls team we've ever had." Runners from left are Megan Walker, Lisa West, Wendy Knapp, Valarie Maile, Charlyn Chapal, Dawn Winterling and Barbara Carr. The photo, by Andy Jones, is courtesy of the Tampa Tribune Pasco edition.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

What's more important, the team or a teammate?

For Gulf High cross country runner Wendy Knapp, one cannot be extracted from the other. So when she heard that teammate Valerie Maile might not run in today's Pasco County meet because of an achy hip, Knapp said she would rather treat the race as a "tempo run" than a competition.

That is, the Bucs would run to hit certain time splits rather than win the race that starts at 4 p.m. at River Ridge High School.

"If we did decide to run it and I saw Valerie on the side, that wouldn't make me feel good," Knapp said.

It is that team spirit that Gulf coach Dean Lofton said has fueled Gulf's dominance among the county's girls teams. That and the disappointment of finishing sixth in last year's regional meet, two places short of qualifying for state.

"I can hear the talk," Lofton said. "I sense a little bit of hunger and maybe even a bit of anger."

There has been nothing angry about how the Bucs have run this year. In fact, they make it sound downright fun. That, they agree, comes from thinking as a team both on and off the course.

To celebrate Maile's 18th birthday, the team went over to her house. There are spaghetti dinners and sleepovers, all of which has helped form a we're-in-this-together bond.

It also helps that the core of the team -- seniors Knapp, Maile and Dawn Winterling, juniors Lisa West and Megan Walker and sophomore Barbara Carr -- returned after last season's disappointment.

So far, the results have been impressive. Gulf has not been beaten within the North Suncoast and pulled off the impressive feat of having each of its runners attain negative splits in winning the prestigious Red Mule Invitational.

And it's not like one racer has been dominating. Carr, the defending Sunshine Athletic Conference champ, got the preseason hype, but even she has only the seventh-best time in the county.

At the Red Mule Invitational, Carr, Maile and Knapp finished in the top 10 and Winterling was 11th.

"We're all right there and so close together," Winterling said.

"This is the best girls team we've ever had," Lofton said.

The goal, both the runners and the coach said, is to be a top-five finisher at state. Winterling, however, said a state title might even be a possibility.

"If everyone runs the best that they can," she said of the team's five, six and seven runners, "I think we have a chance."

And they are using last year's regional disappointment as motivation.

"That really affected us," Knapp said.

"We knew we had a good team, so it was upsetting. I guess we use it to our advantage."

And that is most important.