It seems to be a tradition that the Chippewa Hills Warriors girls track team will not lose a meet and will take its conference title.
That’s been the case again this year, as the Warriors sealed another CSAA title on May 13 by winning the league meet.
Chippewa Hills boasted several CSAA champions, including all four relay teams. Erin Drouillard won the pole vault and the discus, Jennifer McNeal the high jump and the 400-meter run, Amanda Koepf the shot put, Arielle Esch the 100-meter hurdles, Megan O’Neil the 800- and the 3,2000-meter runs, and Nicole Snyder the 200-meter dash.
The Warriors ended their dual season with a 7-0 record and now have 84 straight victories, going back to the 2002 campaign, and have won 12 straight league titles. The Warriors were third at the MITCA team meet last season and sixth at the MHSAA state finals.
Sally Schafer has been the Warrior coach since 2000. “What’s really helped is the consistency of the coaching staff,” she said. “We’ve all been together for quite a few years. They know who their coaches are going to be. We have a great middle school program, too. They start off young in the program, and we build off of that. The younger kids have the older kids to learn from.”
Bob O’Neil has been Chippewa Hills girls’ middle school coach since 2001. He has averaged between 30 and 50 seventh- and eighth-grade girls on this teams. “This year, we have a bigger team,” he said. “We started with 60 and are down to 56 now.”
It’s O’Neil’s opinion that Chippewa Hills’ middle school success has something to do with the Warrior girls’ stunning success. “I think it helps a lot,” he said. “It gives them exposure. They see what the high school girls do.”
O’Neil, whose daughter Megan is an all-state distance runner for the Warriors, noted that not many of his athletes have much pre-middle school-level track and field experience. “Middle school track helps get them started,” he said.
“These kids want to do what the older kids are doing,” Schafer said. “So they work towards it.”
“We have really good coaches and dedicated athletes,” said Drouillard, a senior. “There’s a lot of kids starting off at a young age. In seventh grade, the middle school coach would want us to have fun. It’s like a big family.”
Many female athletes from Chippewa Hills have gone on to run college track. Drouillard is gong to Aquinas College and O’Neil to the University of Wisconsin.
In spite of all the success, though, not all of the 84 straight wins have been easy, acording to Schafer. “We had to go against Fruitport and Ludington, and we beat Ludington, when it came down to the mile relay. Spring Lake was in that conference that year. It was tough. Every team was beating out every other team. There’s been close calls for sure.
“One of my fondest memories is actually when we took second in the conference in one of my first years as coach. As head coach, we hadn’t been doing well and were trying to build up and were with Fremont, which has always been a powerhouse in track and field. They were pretty dominant. We tied them in the conference meet. They won the duals, so we ended up second in the conference. But that was the highest we had done in years. I remember being so happy for the kids. From that point on, we won.”
Schafer usually has up to 50 girls on her team. “The first few years, we were low 30s,” she said. “Each year it’s built up. The last few years we fall between 42 and 50.”
Schafer is obviously hopeful that the streak can continue when new teams Tri County and Grant enter the CSAA next season. “The girls want to keep it going,” she said. “Tri County, we were in a league with a few years back, and Grant, I’m kind of familiar with them. I think they’re good track schools. Hopefully, it will bring some good competition to the league. I’m looking forward to that.”
The Warriors have been deep across the board this season, Schafer noted. “We have speed and our distances are strong, and our field events are doing phenomenal. We have four high jumpers that have qualified for regionals. Three pole vaulters have qualified. Our throwers are doing great. We’ve got young throwers. Across the board, we are three-four deep. Because they’re on a quality team, they have to work their way in.”