Cross Country Reaches for a Three-Peat

The boys and girls cross country teams are bringing back their key runners and are working toward a three-peat within the Three Rivers Conference.

Heading into year 32 of coaching, Mike Meredith shares his expectations for his team throughout the upcoming fall season. On the boys side, top runner and state qualifier Colin Hinkelman will be returning for his junior season. He will be leading the team as seniors Andrew Oaks, Chase Parsons and Tyler Shoemaker follow close behind in their final season. This group of boys has been running together for years at this point, and Meredith shares that the expectation is they defend their back-to-back conference champion title later this fall. 

As for the girls, they are led by upcoming sophomore Aubree Bates and junior Sydnie Bartlett. The returning seniors include Alaina Manning and Jessa Lightner and also sophomores Madelyn Korte, Amelia Iddings and Lola Taylor.

It’s key that these girls practice in a pack to also defend their back-to-back conference champion title this fall. It’s impressive that both teams have the chance to be three time conference champions. With these expectations being instilled in them so early in the season, Meredith has even bigger plans for them. “With the state tournament being expanded, both teams could find themselves in Columbus this fall running at the state championship,” Meredith said. 

The first race for these athletes will be at the Troy Invitational on August 18. This race is only three kilometers, where most races are five. Therefore, their first 5k race will be the infamous Bob Schul Invitational at Milton-Union on August 23. 

We will be keeping a close eye on these impressive teams as the fall season officially begins on August 1.