This year’s cross country season was a success to say the least with many team wins on the boys side, as well as individual medals and lifetime PR’s for both teams. The cross country team practices and trains co-ed making it a pretty tight knit family between the teams. With team dinners happening often, Taylor Partney says Ella and Addi Nottmeyer’s was the best.
“It was just like we’re all like a family,” said Partney. As well as feeling like a family aside from Addi and Ella Nottemeyer; there is another pair of brothers on the team. Elijah and Noah Case both run cross country and could be considered the top runners on the team.
“I liked running with the guys. I feel like we proved a lot of people wrong cause we lost a bunch of seniors last year,” said Will House.
Many runners medaled at the competitive GAC conference meet at McNair on Oct. 17. Both JV teams
won themselves a plaque to show their conference champion title as well as boys varsity with Elijah Case, Noah Case, and House taking first, second and third place in the race. Other runners medaled in this race as well including Hezikiah Hanks, Tyler Palmer, Charlotte Anderson and Eleanor Curtis.
Noah and his brother both solo qualified this year and competed in state Nov. 9 at the Gans Creek Recreation Center in Columbia. “Everyones like ‘oh, you beat him right?’ and I’m just like no,” said Noah.
Junior and teammate House said, ““It was fun [having brothers on the team] but sometimes they would argue and it would be funny.”
Elijah and Noah weren’t the only ones to run at State, sophomore Matalyn Basler and freshman Lilly Black also solo-qualified. Matalyn and Lily have both expressed excitement to be running at State together, especially being younger runners.
“ I’m really excited to go with a freshman. It’s so cool we have underclassmen going,” said Basler.
At the state meet the runners took on the muddy course in cold weather to compete for State titles. The team together didn’t place, but out of 157 boys Elijah case took 11th and Noah Case took 56th. Out of 151 girls, Matalyn Basler took 114th place, and Lilly Black took 80th.
