Westfield High School kicked off the varsity football season by honoring the school’s 1998 IHSAA girls cross country state championship team.

The WHS girls cross country claimed the school’s first team state championship 25 years ago. The team was honored during halftime of the football team’s Aug. 18 home game against New Palestine.

WHS won the state title on Nov. 7, 1998, beating runner-up Carmel by a score of 116-136 in Bloomington.

Scott Lidskin coached the team in 1998 and retired in 2014. He returned this year to coach the team again. He attended the celebration with members of the 1998 team.

“It was a big deal in ‘98 when we won,” Lidskin said. “We were a small community back then. Athletics has always been a really important part of the community, so we felt embraced at the time.”

The girls cross country team also won state championships in 2005 and 2007.

Whitney Bevins was among the first group of female runners to represent WHS at the state championship in 1998. She was an assistant coach for the team in 2019 and was the head coach from from 2020 to 2022. She is proud of the foundation for success her team established for the program.

“I think it’s an honor for them to run for the program we helped build,” Bevins said.

WHS Athletic Director Andy Tebbe said the team’s accomplishment in 1998 paved the way for state-level success for the school’s other varsity programs.

“It could light a fire that will lead (other WHS teams) to them being honored 25 years after they won a state championship,” Tebbe said.