By SARAH COCHRAN, for the Brown County Democrat
Brown County High School’s cross-country team has high hopes for the start of the season, after Eagle runners excelled in their preseason Brown County Cross-Country Challenge.
With seven schools competing, Brown County earned first-place wins in both the boys and girls competitions.
For the boys team, running partners Wyatt Wyman and Marino Dolph finished first in the shared 5K run with a time of 15:48.00.
The girls team proved to be equally strong competition, with a first-place finish for running partners Maris Wyman and Anna Fleetwood in 20:45.20.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]The Aug. 16 event at Eagle Park included, in addition to the Eagles, Martinsville, Indian Creek, Columbus East, White River Valley, Providence and Lawrence Central. Each school entered partnered running teams that took turns running the first and second legs of the 5K race.
Schools with at least three running teams were eligible to place overall. Brown County’s boys team placed third overall. However, the girls were unable to achieve an overall score due to the size of the event roster.
Brown County’s roster this year includes 13 total runners, only two of whom are seniors, on the boys team. All of the girls roster is composed of underclassmen.
Despite the number of runners, coach Rob Abraham is encouraged by his team’s performance heading into the season.
“Wyatt has a very good shot at going to state this year, and Jordan (Dolph)’s workouts are great right now,” he said.
Wyatt Wyman, one of the seniors, plans to act as a team leader.
“I’d like to promote team bonding, trying to make the team more cohesive — less boys team/girls team and more just ‘team,'” he said. “The closer we are, the better we will be able to race and the better we will work out in practices.”
Abraham has his own expectations for this year’s seniors.
“They should set the example of being a good teammate and doing all of the little things in practice that shows other kids how hard they have to work to be as good as they actually are,” he said.
“To be good, it’s only a 12-week season, and you’ve got to do the work during the summer or you’re not going to be very competitive later on.”
The team began its official season Monday, Aug. 21 at Shelbyville High School.
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Saturday, Aug. 26 at Franklin Community High School, 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 29 at Edgewood High School, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 2 at Terre Haute North, 9 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 9, Eagle Classic, 8:30 a.m.
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Boys: Jordan Dolph (senior), Marino Dolph (junior), Cameron Fox (freshman), Timmy Kilburn (sophomore), Jackson McPheeters (sophomore), Billy Webb (sophomore), Wyatt Wyman (senior)
Girls: Emma DeBord (freshman), Anna Fleetwood (freshman), Rowyn Kean (freshman), Emilia Koester (freshman), Angel Meece (sophomore), Maris Wyman (sophomore)
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