Glovatsky crowned champ at Preview

MHCC head cross-country coach Jim Satterfield got exactly what he wanted out of freshman Georgia Glovatsky.

The 26-year-old freshman for Mt. Hood took first place at the NWAC Preview meet in Battle Ground, Wash., on Sept. 27 with a time of 18:35 – more than 20 seconds better than second place finisher Alli Cross from Lane CC.

Not a bad way to introduce herself to the competition in the NWAC.

“I expected her to run that fast,” Satterfield said. “She ran a (more) smooth race than last week, and more even-paced.”

On Sept. 20, Glovatsky finished second during the annual Oak Knoll Loop Run in Independence, Ore., where she was competing against Willamette University runners.

Asked what was working in Glovatsky’s favor, Satterfield said, “We aren’t going to give out all of our cards quite yet,” simply smiling at the notion that he had landed a gem for the Saints program.

Glovatsky gave credit for her success to some mental toughness.

“It’s tough, that was only my second race,” she said.

Glovatsky said her older sister, Sarah Crouch, who runs professionally for Reebok, helped her gain a strong mindset going into the NWAC Preview.

“She told me to run with my mind, my body and my heart and it worked,” she said. “I had to split up each mile into those three things: focus on my mind, and then focus on my running and staying consistent, and then I took off with my heart from the pack.”

Satterfield said his women are coming along nicely, fairly early in the season.

“The good news is we’re closer to the elite teams, but those teams are still really strong,” Satterfield said.

He said sophomore Haley McDonald, who finished in 19th place (at 20:19) out of 52 competitors, had “a really good race for her.” He noted that McDonald and freshman Leah Norquist, who finished right behind McDonald at 20:20, both beat sophomore Emily Trosino for the first time. Trosino finished with a time of 20:42, good for 27th place overall.

“They’ve never beaten Emily before,” Satterfield said. “Emily has been nothing but supportive and was rooting them on. It was a good day, but (she) had an off day.”

Satterfield continued, “Georgia leads by example and Emily is our emotional runner. She’s (Emily) a coach’s dream. Probably why she’s a 4.0 student, because she doesn’t stay down for long.”

The Saints men also had a new leader in freshman Michael Francy, who finished in fourth place overall with a PR (personal record) of 24:37.

“I feel like the course was short and I (was) just going for a low 24 (minutes),” Francy said. “I didn’t really see the PR coming. I guess it was just a good day for me.”

Sophomore Brandon Raleigh ran well, claiming 11th place with a time of 24:58, which was also a PR.

Satterfield was excited to see Francy and Raleigh take off together, though it might have been too early for his two top runners on the men’s side, he said.

“(Francy) didn’t think he had as far to go and was surprised everyone wasn’t running faster,” the coach said. “So he went for it, damn it!”

Francy was confused for good reason, according to Satterfield. The meet had no mile or kilometer markers on the course.

“I was at a spot on the course, probably a third of the way there, and when the two of them came by, I told them ‘Way to go, guys,’ ” Satterfield said. “Michael took off and went too early and Brandon followed him. I wish they would have waited a little bit longer and they could have taken it all the way” to the finish, he said.

The Saints are next slated to take to the course at noon Saturday, when they compete in the Portland State Invite, held at Blue Lake Park in Fairview.