Fightin' Words: Bremen Cross Country Seeks to Unseat Conference Champs OFHS

Since the 2009–10 season, the boys cross country team has dominated the South Suburban Conference Blue standings, winning the conference title three consecutive years.

This year though, the Bremen High School boys cross country team wants to change that. Following a summer of pounding the pavement, personal records are falling left and right and the Braves look poised to challenge all comers for the conference crown.

“They're pretty young, but most of them return from running last year for me and most of them running track,” coach Bill Griffin said. “They kept running over the summer, as we've been preaching to them, and they finally listened. So, we're seeing really big time drops and most of them are running really well.”

Leading the way for the Braves are Jacob Widstrom, a junior, and Erick Meza, a sophomore. Widstrom, the team's captain, is already making noise this year and looking for ways to improve personally, and as a team even more, Griffin said.

“They're asking what they can do to keep it going, they're not resting on their new [personal records],” he said. “That comes from Jacob.”

The youthful Braves, who only have two seniors on the roster, are looking at this year as building to bigger and better things in the future. That being said, Griffin quickly pointed out that just because they're young, doesn't mean the Braves can't make some noise this year.

“Our top goal is try and qualify for the state meet as a team,” Griffin said. “We were down a little bit last year, but with the hard work they've put it, that's one of our very realistic goals.”

The Bremen Braves boys cross country team will host a four-team, quad meet at Midlothian Meadows Forest Preserve in Midlothan today, Sept. 11. The girls team will take the course first at 4:30 p.m., followed by the boys at 5 p.m.