Belief and hard work fuel big goals at Minster

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

This fall is Jessie Magoto’s 19th year of coaching at Minster High in Ohio.

She grew up running at the high school for legendary coach Katie Horstman, a pioneering female athlete who played on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball team in the 1950s. 

“She won several state titles in track and she was pretty hardcore, a lot about discipline and hard work ethic,” Magoto said of Horstman. “She was my mentor ... (and now) that’s my philosophy: with hard work and discipline, you can pretty much make anything happen.”

It’s a simple mentality that has the small school in Ohio doing great things on the track and trails.

The Minster girls cross country team broke its own Division 3 records Saturday for lowest score and largest margin of victory to win the state title with 34 points. Runner-up Mount Gilead finished with 130.

It was Minster’s second straight state championship – originally establishing the record for lowest score in division history last season with 38 points – and 11th overall. The Wildcats also surpassed last year’s 57-point victory over St. Thomas Aquinas.

“We celebrate the successes and it’s great for our community and school, but we really try to focus on the process of working hard, setting goals and taking care of the little things,” Magoto said. “In the end, you are going to be successful no matter what. Saturday they just really pulled everything together.”

When you dig deep enough into what makes the Wildcats successful year in and year out, you find that the magic of Minster is deeply rooted in a strong sense of empowerment and that anything is possible. And in a sport where how much you put in is how much you get out, the small Ohio team is reaping the benefits.

“Very disciplined, very determined girls that just aren’t afraid to set high goals and go after it,” Magoto said of her team. “All of this is about running, but nothing about running. It is about girls just believing in themselves and not afraid to make sacrifices and see what they can do. Building strong, confident girls that aren’t afraid to go after exactly what they want.”

In a town with around 2,800 people and a high school that holds 250-280 students, people know what this team stands for. Magoto describes the group as goofy and an excellent mixture of maturity and youth.

Sophomore Emma Watcke won the 3A individual title in 18 minutes, 38.4 seconds. Of the top five finishers for Minster, only Kaitlyn Albers is a junior, the rest, sophomores Mackenzie Bohman and Gwendolyn Meiring, in addition to freshman Ella Boate. Cassie Francis is the Wildcats’ lone senior in their top seven.

Watcke became the first individual winner for Minster since another legend, Sunni Olding, in 2003. Olding went on to race at the Foot Locker Championships, earning All-American status, and then ran at Notre Dame and Arizona State. Minster will compete as a team for the first time in program history Sunday at the NXR Midwest Regionals in Terre Haute, Ind. 

“Really just start to get experience at this level,” Magoto said of what to expect at regionals. “(The girls) are eager to face great competition again. It may take some practice on this course and setting some goals. As long as they leave it all out there, there is no losing.”

For Magoto, carrying on the tradition of Minster and seeing all the hard work pay off is what it’s all about. 

“It’s fun,” she said. “I love seeing them smiling, their eyes light up and they think, ‘I wonder what we can do next?’”