Mentor cross country: Dennison siblings posting fast times for Cardinals

The following article was posted on the News-Herald’s website. Congratulations Billy and Savannah!

Running is nothing new for the Dennison family. Bill Dennison isn’t just the owner of Second Sole Mentor. He is also the cross country coach at Mentor High School, where his daughter Savannah and son Billy run.

Savannah and Billy have some of the fastest times in cross country for the area. Savannah currently leads the girls runners with a 17:58.30 that she turned at Centerville.

Billy was also atop the leaderboard on the boys side until West Geauga’s Daniel Kearns knocked him off the top. But that didn’t deter the sophomore, as he also posted his fastest time of the season at Centerville, a 15:30.60.

While both have found a stride on the course, they weren’t steered into running while they were growing up. Bill pushed them to try their hands at other sports before they started to drift into wanting to run themselves.

“Running is the family thing and there was always that pressure on them of if they were going to run,” Bill said. “But my wife and I never wanted to force that onto them. Better athletes make better runners. We thought that Billy was going to be playing soccer instead of running, but he made his way over here. Savannah also played flag football with the boys as well as soccer. She had that knowledge right away and we worked on a lot of different things at many races we were at. You could see Billy run at some races and see him develop as a runner but we wanted to let them make those choices on their own.”

While still trying to decide on if he wanted to run in high school, Billy started to train with Savannah when COVID-19 hit to keep in shape while on lockdown. Savannah was just off of her first year as a varsity cross country runner.

It was then that he started to find a passion for running and wanted to take it more seriously. Fast forward two years, and in his first season in high school, Billy was one of the top three runners on the boys team for the Cardinals.

“It was great because we were able to work together a lot during COVID and that’s where it kind of set in that I could be really good at this sport,” Billy said. “I didn’t really run a ton before then, it was my seventh-grade year when COVID started. But seeing that I could keep up with her, that helped me a lot. We’re very competitive together and that pushed me to want to be better than her but also pushed her to get even better.”

The work during the lockdown helped Savannah as well as she assumed the No. 1 role for the girls team as she entered her sophomore year. She was 16th on the podium at the state meet in 2020.

The work not only helped the two become better runners but they also grew closer as siblings. Their father highlighted their competitiveness both at home and on the course, as they both work to post their fastest time as well as helping each other improve.

“Billy and I had nobody else that we could train with other than each other,” Savannah said. “He wasn’t really into it until we started training together. It’s brought us a lot closer and we’ve become closer as siblings. We have that rivalry there at times but we are able to both compete and help the other at the same time.”

Last season was their first on the same team and both saw success on the course. Savannah won four meets while she had the fastest time in the area as well.

Billy composed a strong season as well as a freshman, as he posted the fifth-fastest time in the area before an 84th-place finish at the state meet.

Even in his first year as a varsity runner, Savannah saw that there was another step for her brother to take as a runner. She took it on herself to help Billy find the level that he’s reached this season.

“He fell into running at the beginning because I was doing well in it and dad was the coach,” Savannah said. “It felt like in the beginning he was in my shadow a lot. He’s become his own style of runner and being able to watch him grow has been fun to see. We can now talk about strategies before a race, we can give each other advice not just at the races but also at home.”

To have a teammate like Savannah has been very helpful for Billy in his development by being able to take time outside of practice as well. Both took extra time this summer to work on their performances for the high school season.

He has seen the work come to fruition as he had the fastest time on the boys side for the first five weeks of the season. He’s also recorded three top-five finishes on the season with a pair of third places at the Mentor Cardinal Classic and the Todd Clark Cloverleaf Invitational.

“It helps a lot because not only do I have a good teammate at practice, but I also have someone at home that I can build off of,” Billy said. “If I’m not doing something that I’m supposed to be doing, she’s telling me to go do that and motivating me to do so. I do the same for her as well. It’s crazy looking back and seeing us together at the top. She pushes me a lot to get better and I am able to return the favor.”

For coach Dennison, it’s not just special to see two of his runners at the top of the charts. It’s even more special that they’re his kids. Bill has been with them from their first-ever race to where they’re at now in their high school careers.

They’ve taken strides to become not just fast runners but leaders for their teams. Bill has had the challenge of juggling his responsibilities as a coach and a dad. But his kids have helped him find a way to balance that in his career.

“It’s a true blessing to be their coach and to see the kids, including your own buy-in is really humbling,” Bill said. “It’s fun and sometimes it’s hard to balance when to be coach and when to be Dad. Last year at regionals, Savannah was battling with Mia Compton of Shaker but I felt it was more important to coach the 4-5-6 runners because we were fighting to get out as a team and never saw my daughter finish. There’s times to be one or the other and they’ve seen the other side slip out in the opposite place. It’s a hard door to close but Savannah has taught me how to be better and that will be helpful down the road with Billy as he continues.”

Both have their attention toward the postseason, which starts on Oct. 15 when Mentor takes the line at Strongsville for the GCC meet.