Medina County Sports Hall of Fame: 2011 girls cross country team lifted Brunswick to new heights with state title

The 2011 team set the standard and example that all future Brunswick girls cross country teams continue to attempt to emulate. Seniors Loren McDaniel, Selena Pasadyn and Alexis Uber, sophomores Kristine Camper and Tara Martin and freshmen Becca Ogorzaly and Hannah Meyer punctuated an outstanding season that included district and regional titles by winning the program's only Division I state championship to date. That Blue Devils team is joined by the Wadsworth teams of 1979 and 1980 as the only Medina County girls cross country teams to win a state championship. For all its success, the 2011 Brunswick team will be inducted into the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame during June 16 ceremonies at The Galaxy Restaurant in Wadsworth. "If you look back on that team, Loren, Alexis and I were all seniors, and over the course of four years we learned how to work together," Pasadyn said. "We knew how to train hard, train smart. The culmination of that experience and some talented youth really allowed us to excel." While Brunswick (113) edging second-place Beavercreek (118) and third-place Mason (also 118) at Hebron's National Trail Raceway to win the state title was the crowning achievement, Pasadyn, McDaniel and Uber got the ball rolling two years prior when they were the top three runners on the second state qualifying team in program history. With the standard established, Brunswick qualified for the state meet every year from 2009 through 2019. "As sophomores, they were thrown into the fire and they just learned together," longtime Blue Devils coach Kerry Hunter said of Uber, Pasadyn and McDaniel. "They taught the next group and the next group learned from them and it just kept going. I've used them many, many times, five or six years after they graduated, as the example to try and keep that streak going." With three seniors with two years of experience running at the state meet and Horton competing the year before, Brunswick was confident entering the season, but still needed to put the work in to get the desired results. That was easy for a very close team that hung out on Saturdays long after a meet was over and constantly found ways to make daily workouts fun and entertaining. "From the beginning of the season, we were all focused on getting our own times down, pushing each other and going week by week," McDaniel said. "Our goal was to make it to the state meet, for sure. It was fun to think about, work hard and see where we'd end up." McDaniel was the first Brunswick runner to cross the finish line at state, placing 23rd in a time of 18:47.66, which was sixth among team-qualifying competitors. Camper (19:02.32, 36 overall), Pasadyn (19:20.22, 52), Uber (19:30.91), Horton (19:41.83, 76), Ogorzaly (19:59.36, 91) and Meyer (20:12.10, 108) followed. Uber and Horton proved pivotal, as Brunswick trailed Beavercreek by four points and Mason by eight after the first three runnners. Uber, Horton, Ogorzaly and Meyer, however, were the top fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh runners to finish for any team. "At the two-mile mark, I thought we were state champs," Hunter said. "Coming into the final, I realized it was going to be a whole lot closer than I thought it'd be, and I wasn't sure how we'd done at that point. "Those four, five, six and seven runners had a great day for us and that put us over the top. We weren't winning through three, but we were winning by the end." That depth and the ability for a different runner to lead the way in any given race was the trademark for the championship team. "We had an absolutely strong front pack and a lot of depth on that team," Pasadyn said. "We relied on each other to all be really solid on that day. That made it really special. There were no absolute standouts, but everyone was very solid and we trained like that all year." NEW SURROUNDINGS While the three seniors and Horton had the experience of running at a prior state meet, no one knew how a change of venue might impact the race. Ahead of the 2011 season, the OHSAA made the decision to move the state meet from its home at Scioto Downs racetrack to National Trail Raceway in Hebron. "It was kind of interesting to be at the new course, because no one had ever run on that course before," McDaniel said. "Typically, when you go into a race you remember this part is hard or there will be a lot of fans over in this area. It was an even playing field for everyone because it was new for everyone." Despite the new surroundings, Brunswick entered the race confident and had conversations of reaching the podium as one of the top two teams the night before the race. "We had four girls that had been there before, finishing fourth and fifth at the state meet (the previous two years)," Hunter said. "The whole time down there they felt very comfortable and didn't seem nervous. They were anticipating the day, and going into the race I thought they were ready." At the forefront of the Blue Devils' success that season was Hunter, who had already mentored the boys team to a state title in 1999. He masterminded a plan that saw Brunswick meticulously trim seconds off individual times throughout the season until Brunswick was ready to put everything together at the state meet. "Coach had so much experience," Pasadyn said. "He helped us grow and improve, not only over our four years, but in that season. He got us ready for that championship run. We have a lot to be thankful for in terms of his leadership." FITTING THE PIECES TOGETHER Though running is an inherently independent act, it took a close bond between the members of Brunswick's team to put together the collective effort that ended on top of the podium. At the front was McDaniel, who Camper described as taking off like a rocket as soon as the gun sounded, not to be seen again by any of her teammates until they crossed the finish line. "She was Miss Consistency," Hunter said. "Every race I knew exactly what I was going to get from her. She was going to give great effort." Then came Camper, who traded soccer cleats for running shoes that fall in a decision that weighed heavily on the sophomore at the time. She believed her future was going to be on the soccer field but also saw an opportunity to make contributions to the cross country team. The decision began the spring prior when Camper reluctantly decided to run track. "It was a really difficult decision for me in that time of my life," she said. "I so badly did not want to run track my freshman year that my mom (Jasna) thought I would skip our tryout days and came to the high school to make sure that I went and didn't bail." Despite her hesitation, Camper put together a strong track and field season, decided to put the track cleats away and blossomed into a strong enough cross country runner to be the second Blue Devil to cross the finish line at state. "Kristine transitioned over from soccer, and we were thrilled she was going to join our team," Pasadyn said. "She really hit the ground running that first season, and the combination of the five of us really took off." Pasadyn, who also competed in swimming and track and field while at Brunswick, was an undeniable leader on the team, even as she battled injuries down the stretch of the season. Her fierce competitiveness showed at the state meet, where she overcame those injuries to help Brunswick win on her way to winning the Wendy's High School Heisman for her excellence in athletics, academics and community leadership. "She was hands down our most talented runner," Hunter said. "She had some injury problems toward the end of the year, but talent for talent, she was our most talented runner, no doubt." Pasadyn went on to a successful running and academic career at Harvard and is currently in the second year of a four-year fellowship as a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic. Then there was Uber, a relentless worker who refused to give in to complacency. Despite not qualifying for the varsity team as a freshman, she returned in 2009 to become one of Hunter's most reliable runners on that state qualifying team. "As a sophomore, she became one of my top girls," Hunter said. "I asked what had changed and she said, 'I just wanted to be good, Coach.' From that point on she exploded." Horton rounded out Brunswick's scorers at the state meet, defending — and extending — a one-point lead over Mason and three-point advantage over Beavercreek after four runners. As the first fifth runner to finish among any of the competing teams, Horton came up clutch for the Blue Devils. "In 2011, she was always in the hunt, giving us that fifth person to come in and it was always very solid," Hunter said. "Tara was that unspoken hero for us." Though Ogorzaly and Meyer did not officially score for Brunswick, they still had standout races. Ogorzaly did not run in the varsity race at the Tiffin Regional but did so well in the open race that Hunter placed her in the lineup. Meyer began a stretch as the first Blue Devil to compete at four state meets. "We all knew how to encourage each other and we all had different forms of encouragement," McDaniel said. "Some people wanted to know specifics and others didn't want to really be talked to before the race started. Some of us liked to goof off before the race. Knowing the ins and outs of each other and what motivates us really helped us out." THERE FOR EACH OTHER Camper was surprised when she caught up with Pasadyn midway through the race at the state meet. Knowing her teammate wasn't 100% going in, Camper was concerned, but Pasadyn inspired her to finish strong. "I was thinking this can't be good, she's got to be hurting, because the Pasadyn family is the strongest family I know," Camper said. "I took a couple of seconds to run beside her, hold her hand and tell her, 'You've got this and you can finish.' "She told me to go: 'We need you to go.' The fact that she said we need you to go pushed me, because I wasn't running for myself, I was running for my team, the city and my family." From there, Camper said she pretended to be chasing younger sister Katherine as she passed runner after runner until the finish line came in sight. Then the "Camper Kick" came into play as she chased down three more runners going into the chute. Last weekend, the 27-year-old Pasadyn finished second among 472 women at the Cleveland Marathon in 2:53.32 to qualify for the Boston Marathon next spring. It is the second time Pasadyn has qualified for Boston, but the 2021 race was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and when it was run, she was committed to an internship with the Cleveland Clinic. "Everything I learned from that team, my coach, that experience has really translated and I hope inspired a lot of future Blue Devil runners as well," Pasadyn said. "I'm really, really excited to compete in the Boston Marathon this spring and keep dropping my time." Winning a state championship and starting a string of state-qualifying teams remains a source of pride for the runners, who remain committed to seeing Brunswick's running community stay strong. "We worked out together, trained together, learned each other's strengths and weaknesses to really balance each other out," Pasadyn said. "We took our leadership seriously and showed how to conduct yourself on and off the course and train hard. "I think that really rubbed off on the underclassmen and they all continued the legacy afterward with state-qualifying team after state-qualifying team." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.