The Mount Vernon girls' cross country team may be small in
numbers, but it's loaded with talent.
Six of the eight girls out for this year's squad have
running experience, including three that ran on the varsity squad a year ago.
Lucy Rush heads the list of talented veterans and is ready
for her senior season after qualifying for the state meet her junior year. She
finished 57th in the state, after qualifying for regionals for two
straight years. Rush won the Licking County League individual title as well.
“Lucy has been working hard all summer and I am excited to
see where the season goes for her,” said Mount Vernon coach Jenn Bishop.
The Yellow Jackets also return varsity runners Amanda
Misarti (junior) and Cora Stetler (sophomore).
This year's squad will also include seniors Joy Mormon and
Madison Seng, as well as group of sophomores — Nora de la Fuente Morcillo,
Callie Peugh and Anneliese Scott.
“For our returning athletes, it's great to see how they've
grown and the progress they have made as they get stronger each season,” Bishop
said. “For our new athletes, it's exciting to see them figure out how races go
and how they grow more and more confident in their abilities with each meet.
The group is really positive and very supportive of one another.”
With just eight runners, the Jackets will get a lot of
experience this year and Bishop hopes that will help them find success in the
conference, as well as districts and beyond. They finished third in the LCL
last fall and with a talented core, the Jackets will look to build on that
success.
The Mount Vernon boys' team will be led by a quartet of
seniors. Gavin Andrews was one of the top Jacket runners, finishing 52nd
in the district competition. Joey Butts also spent time on varsity, while Kai
Barrau and Brady Mills are also on board this fall.
Junior Jackson Ross also ran for the Jackets during the
district tournament and returns for another year. Joining them are junior Owen
Petrie, sophomore Anderson Seng and freshman star Calvin Heithaus.
“We have a lot of guys coming back this year,” said coach
Pat Gray. “Mix in some of our young talent, and we should be very competitive
this season.”
Gray is hoping the team gets some good race experience in
early in the season and peak at the right time — LCL and districts.
“We aim to run our best races at the end of the year,” Gray
said. “For our conference meet, we train to have our runners run their best for
the highest possible team finish.”
Fredericktown
The Fredericktown boys' cross country team is looking to
make history this year.
Despite losing four runners from last year's squad, the
Freddies will be shooting for their 10th straight trip to the state
cross country meet.
The Freddies and Mount Gilead are the only teams that have
made it to state in 10 of the last 11 years, and another trip would make it 10
straight for FHS.
“The boys have big goals, including qualifying for the
program's 10th straight state meet berth and contending for a
conference and district title,” said Fredericktown coach Bob Geiger.
Despite seeing four runners graduate and head on to run in
college, the Freddies have plenty of talent back to make another run at
greatness. Senior Darren Hartley leads the way for the talented team that won a
district championship last fall. Also back are juniors Anson Wenger, Lincoln
Snyder and Nick LaFevre.
They will be joined by seniors Caleb Smith and Nolan Bender,
as well as junior Elisha McGuckin, sophomores Patrick McGuckin, Gideon Rashley
and Wyat Payne, and freshman Allen Swartzentruber.
The girls also lost a number of talented athletes but are
loaded for another big run.
Seniors Micah Phillips, Angelina Overholt, Elizabeth
Swartzentruber, Peyton Blakesley and Kit Bellman were all part of program’s
recent success. They will be joined by junior Madi Shade.
The Freddies will also look to two talented freshmen to help
them achieve some big goals — Gwen Lavin and Sophia Overholt.
