Week Six: running the course with Newton South girls

South wrapped up the regular season, sweeping a tri-meet on Wednesday with Tyngsborough (16-39) and Westford (15-48). South (9-1) suffered its only regular-season loss to nationally-ranked Lincoln-Sudbury.

Looking ahead

The Lions head back to Franklin Park on Friday for the DCL championship, facing three squads that are ranked among the state’s top 10. McChesney called the upcoming race, ‘‘our biggest test, even bigger than all-state.’’

Madeleine Reed, Melanie Fineman and Kathy O’Keefe should pace the top three runners at Lincoln-Sudbury. Laurence might be the difference-maker, running in the fourth spot while Jenny Epstein, Elizabeth May and Kayla Burton provide the depth needed for South to bring home another DCL title.

‘‘This year the DCL is even deeper up front,’’ said McChesney. ‘‘L-S and us are very strong, along with two Acton-Boxborough girls who’ve been huge for them. Plus there’s some real talent from schools like Concord-Carlisle and Weston. The depth in the DCL is amazing this year and I’m happy we ran a schedule where we saw so many of these teams.’’

Stepping forward

Katie Sandson is considered one of the state’s top sprinters. A member of South’s 4x200-meter relay team outdoors, Sandson helped the Lions place 12th at the nationals last spring.
In the tri-meet against Tyngsborough and Westford, she set a personal best, beating Tyngsborough’s No.2 runner and Westford’s No. 5 runner, in a time of 21:00.

‘‘Katie solidified her place on our state-team roster of 10 girls, of which we can run seven,’’ said McChesney. ‘‘She’s going to the postseason, which says a lot about her progress this season.’’

Laurence also set a personal record at Westford, finishing the race in 19:10 and shaving off 28 seconds off her former best.

McChesney: Today’s tip

I grew up in a family in which my parents both held world and American records as Masters runners; my dad is 82 and still runs 6 miles per day. My mom runs for over an hour in the water and is also over 80. All four of us boys were All-Americans, so confidence should never have been an issue for me.

When I tell my teams stories of my past, most of them are about how I learned from my mistakes and the fears that all runners face. It all starts with positive self talk. After 71 seasons as a coach who really pays attention to the attitudes of my kids and listens to how these kids talk to each other about competition, I am even more convinced that the real need for most runners is the ability to give themselves a pat on the back.

My advice is to reward any gain and to learn from any setback. Easy and clear advice, but not often followed. Smell the roses of the well done and learn and forget the bad days.

I work a lot on positive self talk. I am famous with my kids for asking them to find a positive out of any negative that I hear from them. I tell my kids to not even get on the bus with the negative.

I constantly teach kids how to replace negative self talk with looking at the same situation in a positive way.

Proper practice at positive self talk can go a long ways in calming the nerves. I believe with all my heart that is why so many of my kids are big-meet runners.

-- COMPILED BY SAPNA PATHAK
TRACK THE TEAM: For more coverage of the Newton South girls cross-country team, go to www.boston.com/newton.