The idea was to build a foundation, to move forward. Cathedral High School girls cross-country did just that in 2023, turning the first season under head coach Brian Gross into a strong season with an eye on the future. “I couldn’t be more happy with how this year went,” Gross said. Irish girls cross country finished second in 2023 in the All-City Meet and third in the All-Catholic Meet before turning in an impressive performance in the sectional meet to advance to the regional meet. The Irish were led by a strong senior class, with senior Lucy Marquart qualifying as an individual for the state meet. “They have had just such a phenomenal role in shaping and devising what our culture is in the program,” Gross said of the senior class. “I said at our team banquet [in early November], ‘What a wealth of knowledge we're losing with some of these graduating seniors, how much they passed on with that culture and that development.’ “That was the No. 1 success I'd say we had this year: Establishing a healthy culture that is trying to develop and help young ladies become lifelong runners. We’re definitely on that track now and we’re looking for that as a beacon of success.” The Irish advanced to the Section 4 Region Meet with a third-place finish at the Section 17 Meet at Mount Vernon. Marquart finished fourth at the sectional in 19:14.5 with junior Addison Stanley finishing 16th in 20:25.1, sophomore Mary Bradshaw finishing 19th in 20:50.9, sophomore Camille Spencer finishing 20th in 20:51.5, sophomore Brooklyn Bolin finishing 32nd in 21:35.6, sophomore Molly Adams finishing 40th in 22:30.7 and senior Evie Wagner finishing 45th in 23:01.3. “We were in a new sectional for the first time,” Gross said. “The way that they were able to get out in third place at the sectional and go into a tough regional with a new alignment, I just couldn’t be more proud of how they responded to that challenge.” The Irish finished 14th at the regional. Marquart advanced to the state meet with a 14th-place individual finish in 19:07.4. Addison finished 83rd in 21:06.4 with Spencer finishing 126th in 21:44.3, Bradshaw finishing 127th in 21:44.3, Bolin finishing 156th in 22:31.9, Wagner finishing 169th in 23:09.5 and Adams finishing 202nd in 23:58.5. Marquart, who has committed to Xavier, became ill the week leading to the state meet. She started the meet at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute but did not finish. “She was home all day Friday and ends up deciding, ‘Hey, I'm going to go for it,’’’ Gross said. “She wasn’t able to finish. We had a conversation about it later. I told her, ‘If you had woken up that morning and said you weren’t going to try it, you'd be asking yourself could you have done it. Now, you know. You put it out there. There’s doubt you gave everything you had.’ It turned out to be a valiant effort. “I couldn't have been more proud of what she did out there, and how she responded after just being just down.” Gross said Marquart’s leadership as the No. 1 runner was critical all season. “We had a conversation back in June when we started conditioning,” Gross said. “I just said, ‘Hey, you have to start telling yourself no one else is coming. There's not going to be some senior who shows up, steps up and you get to follow them. You're our No. 1 and you need to be able to step up and be an example for these young women.’ “That weighs a lot on you and you have to find a way to balance it. The leadership role she took on this year was just absolutely phenomenal. The way she tried to involve runners at all levels of all ages, from freshman to seniors, was the most successful part of what she did this season.” Stanley figures to be a senior leader in 2024, with Bradshaw, Spencer, Bolin and Adams leading what should be a strong and deep junior class. “We have a number of outstanding young ladies,” Gross said. “It's just a tremendous opportunity to work with these kids. I'm excited for next year. If their best running happens in the next four years, we failed. We're looking at what our success looks like over the next 10 years. Added Gross, “I can't tell you what a pleasure it was working with this group of young ladies, just the way they could run themselves. They could handle their own business. They responded to the training. I was dealing with women who wanted to be there day in day out. That was the best part of it.”