Published: August 17, 2008 09:38 pm            

Running that extra mile

Area prep athletes prepare for the cross country season

The highlights for the local cross country scene in 2007 included half of the area’s teams advancing to the state meet at Carrollton.

With a summer of offseason mileage behind them, here’s a look at what might be ahead for area runners and their teams as they prepare to start their seasons and the march toward another trip to Carrollton, where the annual state meets are scheduled for Nov. 8.

Dalton

Not everyone is back for the Catamounts and Lady Cats, but both teams will receive a good dose of stability at the top with the return of Karen Galyon, who in 2007 became the program’s third coach in as many seasons.

“I love it,” said Galyon, who was an assistant for two years before taking over. “I’m real excited, the kids are great and I think we’ll have a real good year.”

Galyon, who is assisted by Michael Green and Margie Bruner, has plenty of runners to pick from with nearly 70 boys and girls participating in the team’s early practices. Some of those are athletes preparing for the winter sports season, but many have the talent to help keep up the recent trend of double-punches on the tickets to Carrollton — both teams have advanced to the past two Class 4A state meets.

In 2007, Dalton’s boys finished second in Region 7-4A and were 11th at state, improving on a finish of 26th in 2006. Those finishes were pushed by the success of last year’s Daily Citizen All-Area Runner of the Year Daniel Grass, who graduated in June.

But almost half of last year’s top talent is back, including All-Area honorable mention Freddy Castillo, fellow senior Augustin Jacobo and junior Andrew Bruner. Galyon also believes freshman Andrew O’Neill is primed to make an impact after practicing with the team as an eighth-grader; he has been keeping up with the team’s fastest group during training this year, she said.

Having runners with state-level experience is a boost for Dalton, even before the season begins.

“I think it’s a very stabilizing thing when you have that many kids that have been at state and run that course,” Galyon said. “They know a little bit about it, so they’re a calming influence to those new ones.”

The girls lost All-Area Team member Rocio Jacobo to graduation, but bring back Carina Nieto — who earned All-Area honorable mention as a freshman a year ago — Allison Delay, Reagan Fromm and Marixa Ortiz. Like O’Neill for the boys, Paxton Plunkett is a freshman who could factor into the varsity’s fate this season.

For both teams, trips to state will be at more of a premium with the switch from an eight- to a 14-team region, but Galyon has been pleased with her runners’ willingness to start building for a push toward such goals.

“With as many kids as we have, you just run them and see who’s going to stick it out,” she said. “And they just keep coming back, no matter what kind of workouts we give them. They’re good with each other, they support each other and they’re just very pleasant to work with.”

Murray County

Murray County cross country coach Sam Young is ready for a change of scenery from the past few seasons, during which the Indians struggled to keep up with the talent level of Region 5-5A.

Low finishes at the region meets were frustrating for Young, entering his ninth season as the boys and girls coach because, he said, his team had talent comparable to the rest of the area but had to compete against Atlanta-area programs in the bid to advance to the state meet.

“We were at the middle of the pack or better against local schools,” Young said. “But we were getting outclassed by the McEacherns and North and South Cobbs. Our individual runners were finishing between 25th and 28th place and could never crack the top 10.

“I watched (former McEachern standout) Ben Hubert run a 4:03 mile, to give you an example of the type of competition we were up against. But at the Ridge Ferry meet when we went up against teams like Dalton and Northwest, we were getting fifth and sixth place.”

Relief is on its way with the Indians dropping to Region 7-4A to face more familiar competition. The move down doesn’t guarantee success, but finishing near the top of the region is a realistic goal.

“I expect the team to improve as the season progresses,” Young said, “to a point that we will be competitive come region.”

For the boys, junior standout Josh Stanley — selected to the 2007 Daily Citizen All-Area Cross Country Team — heads a roster that includes senior Brian McMillian and juniors Ryan Osborn and Tyler Davis. Stanley set the Indians’ Fort Mountain course record last year with a time of 17:31.

The Lady Indians are led by Martha Gonzalez and Young has high hopes for freshmen Krista Wells and Ivy McReynolds, who could extend the girls’ success for years to come if they are willing to make the commitment, the coach said.

Stanley has already shown his commitment with a busy offseason and is hoping his summer regimen has primed him for a breakout year.

“I’ve been running this summer with teammates and my dad rode a bike beside me, which made me run faster,” Stanley said. “I feel a lot stronger and faster than last year. I want to break the Fort Mountain course record and my goal is to run it in less than 17 minutes. I also want to set a personal record at region.”

Northwest Whitfield

Tom Sell “lost the meat” of his boys cross country team when four of the coach’s top seven runners graduated in June. The Lady Bruins will rely heavily on the talents of senior Sydnee Bowman, The Daily Citizen’s All-Area Female Runner of the Year in 2007, and junior Sarah Boyd, who was on the 2007 Daily Citizen All-Area Cross Country Team.

The Bruins and Lady Bruins have an uphill battle in returning to the success level they’ve enjoyed in recent years.

“I just told our guys that we’re on the bottom rung of the ladder,” Sell said. “We graduated a lot of kids like Daniel Horseman, Jonathan LaVelle, Andrew Taylor and Kyle Keener. So we lost at least four guys and we’ve got one on the bubble.”

Horseman and LaVelle were All-Area selections. The “bubble” runner is A.J. Meyers, a talented cyclist who may or may not join the team, Sell said.

“He’s going to be racing a lot and we’re not sure he’s going to be running this year,” Sell said. “He stopped by the other day to pick up his (registration) form, but I’m just not sure. It would be a nice surprise if he wants to be a part of the team.”

Senior Leighton Steadman, who finished third in 17:18 at the Region 7-4A meet and 37th (17:28) among 208 runners at state as a junior, and Aaron Saylor, 23rd at region (18:31) and 92nd at state (18:10), will lead the Bruins this season.

Bowman took 10th at the Region 7-4A meet last year with a time of 21:56, helping the Lady Bruins to a third-place finish, while Boyd ran a 22:20 for 15th place. At state, Bowman’s 22:07 was good for 87th, best among area runners, and Boyd was 93rd in 22:21.

Bowman wants to finish off her prep career in grand fashion.

“I want to break 20 minutes in a 5K this year,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do because we lost so many good people, but if we work hard and focus we should be good by region.”

Sell believes Bowman and Boyd have the ability to improve on their solid efforts in 2007.

“I think those two girls will really have good years,” he said. “I’m glad they’re both with us because they’ll push each other in practice. They’re in a league of their own, and they give us a combination much like (former Lady Bruins) Shelley Taylor and Megan Carnes.”

Southeast

Like Murray County, Southeast has dropped down a classification, moving from Region 7-4A to 6-3A, which could have good implications for the program after a fourth-place region finish last year.

Coach Steve Smith’s top four runners — seniors Jesus Martinez, named to the 2007 Daily Citizen All-Area Cross Country Team, and Kody Ratcliff, and juniors Josue Limas and Andy Pichardo — are all returning.

That foursome should aid Smith’s long-term goal of turning the cross country program into a powerhouse.

“We’ve worked at rebuilding cross country at Southeast,” Smith said. “Looking at a time frame, I was looking at this year when we’d be ready to advance to state. But we pulled it together in 2007, so we’re ahead of the curve.”

Ratcliff, named team captain at the end of last season, will work to maintain the momentum.

“I’ve been running a lot with my teammates,” Ratcliff said. “They are stepping it up, getting faster and improving their times. I’m excited about this year and think it’s going to be a good one.”

The Lady Raiders are coached by Jacki Hasty, who is in her second year at the school.

The Lady Raiders, who finished sixth among eight teams at last year’s Region 7-4A meet, will feature 2007 Daily Citizen All-Area Cross Country Team member Ediht Azua and Summer Faith, both seniors.

Hasty said she has some promising underclassmen and wants this year’s team will run in unison.

“I just hope to have consistent, strong runners that run close to each other,” Hasty said. “That’s something we didn’t do last year. We had dedicated runners, but they weren’t linked together.

“We need to focus on being a tight-knit group.”

— Compiled by sports editor Larry Fleming and sports writers Marty Kirkland and Adam Krohn.

        

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