Desotell Heads to State, Loves Running as a Team

Desotell+Heads+to+State%2C+Loves+Running+as+a+Team

Elaine Chosa, Staff Writer, Journalism I

State Update:  Senior Molly Desotell  placed sixth at the WIAA Division 1 state cross country meet on Oct. 31 in Hartland.  Desotell completed the race in 18 minutes, 37 seconds to medal for the third consecutive year with a Top-10 finish at state. Her pace per mile was 6 minutes.

Senior Molly Desotell is set to run at the state meet on Oct. 31st in Hartland after an unpredictable cross country season. 

NDA cross country moved up to the D1 level after petitioning WIAA to join another conference in order to find schools to run against amid the pandemic.  

With state coming this Saturday, Desotell stated that her ultimate goal this season is to, “leave everything on the course, hopefully set a personal record time to end the season, and place top 10 at Division 1 Wisconsin State.”

This is Desotell’s fourth time running at state, her third time individually running. 

Covid presented multiple new challenges this season, forcing the athletes to adopt the mentality of running each race as if it were their last. 

Schools added multiple modifications to meets including the requirement of masks, limited spectators, and using heats to reduce athlete physical contact, which Desotell said can be, “very mentally challenging,” since one runs against essentially “invisible” runners. 

Many schools were unable to compete due to the pandemic, but the NDA runners and coaches decided to make the sacrifice of limiting social interaction and take extra safety precautions in order to make the 2020 season viable. 

Desotell started her running career in 6th grade and in high school she accepted new challenges and was able to share leadership opportunities with her team as she stated her “passion for running started when [she]  was able to enjoy it as a team sport.”

Desotell trains year round and typically trains six days a week, averaging 30-35 miles per week. 

Desotell is currently the subject of interest for multiple college cross country teams as she looks forward to narrowing down which school would be the best fit after the fall season comes to a close.