The boys’ cross country team began the season with returning runners, and fourteen new runners as well. The new runners consist of males from a variety of grade levels. New freshman runners include Henry Worth, Kyle Kendall, Cody Faust, Pierson Hull, Nathan Scherff, and Jackson West. The new runners from the sophomore class include Adam Saacke, Henry Haywood, and John Ryan Sedovy. New runners from the senior class include Joseph Eversole, Burke Haywood, Quinn Hoover, and Will Saacke. There is also an exchange student, Dmytro Kabrel, who has also joined the boys’ cross country team.

Captain John Michael Gregg is very excited about the amount of runners this season.

“It is crazy how so many students decided to join the team this year. It is a great feeling to see so many new runners since so many runners will be graduating this year. I give the credit to the efforts of my coach and returning teammates,” said Gregg. “People heard about how much fun we had last year, and I guess that was all the convincing they needed! The new runners are already adding a new dimension to the team.”

Haywood has enjoyed being on the team while getting to know his teammates.

“I’m already loving the environment the team creates. It feels great to get out and run every day with such a great group of guys,” said Haywood.

The boys had their first home meet on Saturday, Sept. 23. The heat made the meet challenging, but the varsity team ended up receiving eighth place out of 17 schools. The JV team received sixth out of six schools.

Tison has been pushing the boys’ cross country team to their limits and made them power through the heat during the first home meet.

“It takes blood, sweat, and tears to have a successful team. I’ve got blood and sweat, and after this meet, I’m sure I’ll have tears, too. So we are doing well,” said Tison.

Junior Tieran McClure is the top runner on the team and has goals for the future of the team.

“We had a good group of guys on the team, so this year was a lot of fun. We had some bad luck with injuries late in the season and a tough racing schedule, but four out of our top five are returning the next year, so the team should be getting progressively stronger. I’m optimistic,” said McClure.