Dillard High School Girls Cross Country Tean Reaches Pinnacle: a State Championship

By Sylvester “Nunnie” Robinson

For anyone who has had to build something from the ground up regardless of the area of construction, the daunting task can be lonely, create doubt, seem insurmountable or futile, especially in a sport void of mass public appeal like cross country. I imagined that Coach Davidson Gill, cross country guru at Dillard High School, can attest to having been in that dark space as he poured all of his energy into making the

program at Dillard the state’s best. After years of toiling in relative obscurity, the unimaginable and grueling hours of work began paying incremental dividends as the years rolled on. Last’s year runner up finish confirmed the obvious to Coach Gill and his dedicated runners: hard work does indeed pay off or put another way- if you can conceive it, you can achieve it! The other and most important component of a championship team individually and collectively are the athletes whose drive, determination, dedication, work ethic, character and commitment to excellence place them in an enviable and admirable echelon that myriad athletes fail to attain and others dare not even attempt.

The Westside Gazette chronicled the past accomplishments of the 2022  girl’s XC team that completed a highly successful season, finishing second in the state championship. Led by Christiana Coleman , who finished in second place last year with a time well above 18:00 minutes, epitomizes the resilience, grit and pride as she and her teammates finally achieved the pinnacle of XC success by winning the 3A state championship. Christiana improved her time exponentially over last year, winning with a time of 17:53.4. Overall, four other runners placed in the top 11, scoring 46 points, more than enough to secure the school’s first girl’s XC state championship. Two seventh graders – Shynah Collins and Miley Gill, – Coach Gill’s daughter, finished in the top five, contributing significantly to the state title. Shynah finished in third place with a time of 18:26.5, while Miley earned a fifth place finish with a time of 18:29.2. The future looks extremely promising for the  Dillard XC and track & field programs. Coach Gill attributes the program’s rise directly to Dillard’s only other previous individual state XC winner , daughter Brittany, who won in 2015. She set the standard for others to emulate.

The Westside Gazette sat with Coach Gill, who reflected on the journey from obscurity to blissful jubilation in a question/ answer format.

WG: Based on last year’s individual & team performance, did your expectations change for this year’s team?

Coach Gill: Last year we got second at State so I knew in order to progress the only other place to strive for was first. So we set our sights on that right after states. Christiana Coleman, who was 2023 individual state champion, was long overdue for a breakthrough season.

WG: 2. Who were your team leaders and what qualities in them allowed you to recognize and select them as leaders?

Coach Gill: My team leaders were my two seniors, Raquel Edwards and Christiana Coleman. Raquel helped with the way she focused on the small things in preparation for practice and Christiana led by example.

3. In your opinion, has the school & community been appreciative and supportive of the team and accomplishments, i.e., the administration or Mr. McGraw and the Panther 100 Boosters ?

     Coach Gill: We really stay to ourselves in our own little world, and focus on us and not anything around us, so it kind of takes away from our getting the support they deserve; however, that’s something I got to do better at or work on.

4. Do you believe the attitude generally about cross country has changed in any way?

Coach Gill: I think we force change to some level because we do it better than most in a dominant fashion, so it is difficult to overlook our program in the presence of them making history.

5. What schools/runners posed greatest threat to your ascension as XC state champions?

Coach Gill: Ponte Verda and Osceola were two elite programs that we had to overcome to successfully reach our goals.

     Coach Gill reflected: Two of our top returning competitors were 7th graders Shynah Collins and Miley Gill, both of whom contributed significantly to our overall team success. When combined with the talent, experience and leadership of seniors Raquel Edwards and Christiana Coleman, we were assured that our goals were attainable, but it actually had to happen. Then and only then could we exhale, reflect and know that all the hard work was worth it.