I have been meaning to write this article since the 17th of September. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to put this great story to paper. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I don’t know much about the world of running. I did run track for a couple of years in high school and my wife’s relentless dedication to running is inspiring to me. Yet, I have always lived in the world of football and basketball.
While the outstanding achievements of Kieran Scannell and Ailee Larson have been great success stories for the Cook County crosscountry running program, there is another story. Even as Scannell and Larson competed in the state cross-country meet and represented our community with class, there is also the great story of Cheyenne Sorlie.
Cheyenne is a senior at Cook County High School and the daughter of Don Sorlie and Gretchen Panka. Sorlie just finished her second season of running for head coach Chris
Hegg’s cross-country running program. For those sports fans like me who don’t know much about cross-country running, the team has about eight meets in which they compete in each season. At a meet, competitors run a standard four-kilometer race, which is about two and half miles.
“ I just kept trying. I made myself keep going. I didn’t want to be in last place anymore. Cheyenne Sorlie ”
During her sophomore year, Sorlie joined the track team in the spring. As she finished nearly dead last in each of her races, she decided to try cross-country running in the fall of her junior year. With hopes of improvement on the horizon, Sorlie again finished nearly every race at the back, competing against the remaining one or two girls for last place.
Sorlie continued to train all and in her own words, “I just kept trying. I made myself keep going. I didn’t want to be in last place anymore.”
While Sorlie hated running at the time, she hated not being successful more than anything else. Much of Sorlie’s determination has been fueled by the death of her late uncle, Jeff Houglum. Uncle Jeff’s death at the early age of 27, caused by heart failure, made Sorlie think strongly about taking better care of herself.
Sorlie continued to train, running four to five times a week. She entered her senior season 15 pounds lighter and with a renewed competitive fire. On September 16th, the Cook County cross-country team traveled to Eveleth, Minnesota. In only the second meet of the year, Sorlie finished in 20 minutes.
The next day in my first hour Government class, Sorlie walked in and a classmate asked her how she did. Sorlie responded that she shaved 11 minutes off of her time from last year’s race in Eveleth. Eleven minutes? I don’t know much about running, but in a two and a half mile run, 11 minutes is an eternity! I can see cutting 11 minutes off a marathon time or a half-marathon, but in two and a half miles? Wow.
Sorlie continued to improve throughout the season. As a junior she was finishing races in 24 to 25 minutes. Now, as a senior, she was consistently finishing around the 19-minute mark and was competing with the upper half of the finishers in each race. In her last race of the season, Sorlie finished with a personal best time of 18:20. In the conference meet, Sorlie finished just three places from earning All-Conference honors.
Now that cross country is over, Sorlie looks to cross country skiing in the winter and then track again in the spring to give her that competitive fix that she has acquired over the past few years. After graduation, Sorlie hopes to attend Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio where she plans to try out for either either track or the cross-country running team.
While many of us struggle to stay committed to things like eating better, working out, weight issues, etc., Cheyenne Sorlie is a great example of uncommon self-discipline and dedication. Many of us never get to see what we are capable of because we lose sight of our goals amidst the pain and sacrifice it takes to get results. Cheyenne Sorlie’s success can be measured in a variety of ways, not to mention one obvious one: Eleven minutes!
Mitch Dorr, a Cook County High School Class of 1993 graduate, is now a social studies teacher and coach at his former alma mater. Mitch coaches Vikings football and boys’ basketball. Coach Dorr’s comments do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the ISD 166 school board or administration.
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