Cross Country Coach Helps Athletes Grow
Rob Lukowski is the cross country and track coach for Highland. He has been coaching here since 2013. He also coached at Calumet High School in Gary for five years, Tinley Park High School in Illinois for two years, Mount Carmel High School and Westmont High School both in Illinois and each for a year, and lastly at St. Joseph High School for four years. He has coached at the middle school level, too. At these different schools, he coached many different sports. These sports include middle school wrestling, boys and girls basketball, and track.
Lukowski has spent most of his coaching years at the high schools. He spent 8 years as a football coach, 10 years as a cross country coach, and 17 years as a track and field coach.
“My favorite part of coaching is the relationships [I've] created with young people," Lukowski said.
He enjoys seeing the athletes he coaches grow and mature.
“They really stayed calm on the biggest stage [the state meet], and I believe it is why they did so well,” Lukowski said.
When he was in school, he was a sprinter. He ran in middle school, high school, and also in college. The races he competed in were the 200 meter and 400 meter dash. He remembers most about these years all of the fun times hanging out with his friends and teammates on road trips in college.
“My high school coach tried to get me to run the mile and I thought he was crazy; now I coach distance runners,” Lukowski said.
He enjoys coaching the students and helping them learn how to be the best they can be.
Highest Ranking Sophomore Runner for Highland
Sophomore Lucas Guerra has been running for cross country track since he was in 6th grade.
Throughout the years he has grown more passionate for the sport. He has put his all into working to become better for not only himself, but his fellow teammates.
“I try and get the least amount of points as possible to help my teammates,” Guerra said.
In cross country, the runner with the least amount of points is in 1st place.
Guerra has been working hard to become the best he can be. This year, he became the 11th placed sophomore in the state. This is a major accomplishment for him. He hopes that in the upcoming track season he can do as well as he did in the fall. He is also the on the 1st team all conference and 1st team all state.
Some of the major things he learned is to keep persevering through to the finish line, and trust the people you have around you.
“The only thing you can’t do is quit; have faith in God and your coaches,” Guerra said.
He thinks that next season, the whole team will go farther than they did this year, and place even higher. According to him there are still several returning varsity athletes that will help in this.
Guerra started running because of his brother and father. They were his motivational forces. He keeps setting his goals higher to achieve great things. For his senior year, his goal is to win State and compete at the National level.
“I hope to represent the school as best as I can.”
Cross Country Team Races at State
This season the boy’s cross country team had 22 teammates. Of the 22, five of them were varsity. On Saturday, October 20, the five boys varsity runners and one girl varsity runner traveled to New Prairie High School to compete at the State invitational. They received a police escort, with a seeing-off party the Friday beforehand. Once there, the boys' team placed 4th overall.
Both teams worked very hard to get to this position. Each invite, they improved from the last, with many of the runners receiving a new personal record. They started out their season at one of their first races at the Lake Central invite, placing 2nd and beating everyone except for Crown Point. At the conference invite, the team took 2nd place behind Lowell. They won sectionals for the first time since 1973. They were behind Lowell, Valparaiso, and Crown Point, to take 4th place and advance to state. This was also another first time since 1971. Their strategy was to focus on the second half of the race and put their all into the last moments, and each time they scored better and better. Because of this strategy, the team was confident throughout the season and kept advancing.
“The team met the expectation I had for them all the way up to the semi state meet,” Coach Rob Lukowski said.
Next season there are going to be several returning varsity runners. This gives them a better chance to place even higher than they did this year.
Holiday Fun
The holiday season is coming up, and with that there are fun family events that you can attend or new Christmas movies that you can see.
On November 2, the newest version of so many people’s favorite Christmas tale was released. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms tells the live action version of The Nutcracker play. The movie takes you to another world while watching. This movie is rated PG.
Another Christmas favorite came out November 9. This is the new The Grinch movie. There have been several movies about this Christmas villain since 1966. This new 2018 animation is great for children who love the classic story by Dr. Seuss. This movie is also rated PG.
For your whole house, there is a holiday decorating competition. Decorate your house for Christmas and turn in a form to the Lincoln Center to have a chance to win. You can also win prizes. The whole town can vote on which decorated house is their favorite. Voting takes place from December 5 to December 12. The winner of the contest will be announced on December 13.
A fun holiday activity being held at the Lincoln Center is children receiving phone calls from Santa Clause. This is only a two-day event. The dates are December 6 and 7, but the deadline to sign up is November 30. You can call the Lincoln Center to secure a spot. These are just some of the fun family activities you can do together.