Jeremy Dormer's excitement was infectious.

During a phone call one August afternoon, the Marian cross country coach couldn't hide his enthusiasm for the upcoming season."I can't wait for this year," he said. "I think we're really going to turn some heads."One of the reasons Dormer was so eager to begin the 2014 campaign had to do with the arrival of freshman Tina Capparell.Dormer had spent several years watching the Hazleton native dominate competition more than twice her age in 5Ks throughout northeast Pennsylvania, much of the time at the expense of the veteran coach."She was the top overall female at 10, 11 years old," Dormer said of Capparell. "I was hoping she would come to Marian, and luckily she did."Capparell certainly didn't disappoint this past fall, winning every dual meet and tri-meet the Fillies competed in en route to Schuylkill League and District 11 Class A championships.She followed those performances with a 16th-place finish in a field of 218 in the Class A race at the PIAA Cross Country Championships, more than good enough to earn a medal in her first trip to Hershey.With her historic season on the course in the books, Capparell had a chance to finally catch her breath, and claim one more award Times News Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year.The honor is the first for a Marian cross country athlete, male or female, a distinction not lost on the humble freshman."It means a lot," Capparell said. "I was working hard on my running all season, and I'm just so glad it paid off."Seeing Capparell achieve so much success in her first season was especially satisfying for Dormer."She was so dedicated all year," the coach said. "She put the time in and she put the miles in every week. She never missed a practice. I couldn't be happier for her. I'm just so proud of all that she's been able to accomplish this year."For Capparell, who also finished second at the DeSales Centaur Invitational and third at Bloomsburg's NEPA Invitational, the driving force behind this season was the same as many of the races she had done before she came to Marian."Whenever I run, I always try to push myself as hard as I can, especially at practice so I can keep getting better," she said. "And in races, I just push myself as hard as I can and just go for it."While Capparell's mentality may have remained mostly the same, Dormer noted the progress he saw her make, both on and off the course, in just a few short months."I've seen her come a long way," he said. "Her work ethic is unmatched and she was always so coachable. She never gave me a problem about doing a workout."I think her leadership has helped the team as much as her talent."Capparell credited her coach for helping her transition to scholastic competition so quickly."During the summer, he kept pushing us to do all the miles we could, and we did a lot of miles," Capparell said. "We did some workouts that were for speed, others for endurance, and just doing all of that stuff really helped."Dormer is hoping that a solid track season this spring and another summer of training will make Capparell even stronger next fall."I'm really looking forward to next season," he said. "She killed our school record (19:43) this year and already set a bunch of course records at other places."I think there's a lot more to come, and we'll work hard to get there. Hopefully, we can improve her place at states. The main goal is to win a title, and we have three years to do it. But we're still very happy just to have made it there this season."If the steady improvement continues for Capparell, who will also be playing for the Fillies' basketball team this winter, there should be no reason why those goals won't be attainable.But for now, her aspirations are to simply focus on what she can control."Hopefully my times will keep getting better and I'll just keep on progressing," Capparell said. "I'd love to break 19 (minutes) and run somewhere in the 18s, hopefully."But for now, I'm just happy with what I've been able to accomplish this season. It's as much as I could have hoped for and it's been a great year."Completing his sixth season as head coach at Marian, Dormer agreed that this year was truly unlike any other during his tenure. And because of that, he's hoping there will be many more to come."This was a really enjoyable season," Dormer said. "It was a major reward for me to leave work and go down and be with them and see how dedicated they were. They really wanted to be successful."With Tina accomplishing what she did, I think a lot of other kids want to give the sport a try now. I hope that some of her success can rub off on the others and we can continue to keep the program growing moving forward."