As his second season at the helm begins, Brian Crigger hopes to see his Carthage High School cross country program take a major step forward this fall.
“Last year we didn’t finish the season with any runners at the state meet and I feel like we have a handful of runners with a good shot to get to Columbia this year,” Crigger said. “Our coaching staff’s goal this year is to continue to work on our team culture and growing our program each year. We want our athletes to see that we care about them and we want them to reach their full potential, both in athletics, but more importantly, in life.”
With fall sports practices underway, there’s a sense of optimism in Carthage.
“We are very excited for the upcoming season for both the girls and the boys,” Crigger said. “We are attending some new meets for the first time and are ready to see how we stack up against other teams around the four-state area. I think we are going to have an excellent season this year. All the athletes are very positive and excited to have a great year.”
The Carthage boys will be led by seniors Miguel Solano, Caleb Fewin and Michael Lanyon, junior Eddy Fuentes and sophomore Colt Pugh.
“We are going to rely heavily on Miguel, Eddy, Caleb and Michael to be our varsity leaders,” Crigger said.
Among the returners, Fuentes was the team’s top performer at both the conference (43rd) and district meets (53rd). Fewin was close behind, as he finished 48th at the COC Meet and 60th at the district race.
The Tigers have some promising newcomers, including freshmen Devin Smith, Indiana Gray and Shane Ritzema.
“All three had a good summer of training and should be ready to take a jump to the next level,” Crigger said. “We also have a number of other freshmen that trained all summer and should have great seasons.”
The Carthage girls return an experienced group.
Seniors Alyssa Williams, Mildred Elias and Sonia Lopez, junior Jenna Wilson and sophomores Maggie Boyd, Katy Witherspoon, Jennifer Rodas and Mildred Vicente all return with prior varsity experience.
“Maggie and Katy are our two best returners based on last year’s times, but I also think a number of other girls are poised to have a run at the top few spots as well,” Crigger said.
Witherspoon was Carthage’s top performer at last year’s COC Meet (31st) and at the district meet (50th).
As far as newcomers, Crigger expects senior Diana Pichardo to make an immediate impact this fall.
“She has been training with our top runners and is ready for a great season,” Crigger said. “We also have a handful of new underclassmen that should have an immediate impact on the girls side as well.”
With practices underway, Crigger noted his squad has been working hard to improve upon last year’s results.
“Our strengths are that we have kids that know that consistency is key and the only way to get better is to get out of our comfort zone and push ourselves,” Crigger said. “Our goal is to get better every day and make some waves in conference and district this year.”
A lack of big meet experience is something the Tigers must overcome this fall.
“Since we had no runners run at the state meet last year we are missing the experience that comes with past success,” Crigger commented. “Our concern is we are going to be depending on some younger runners in varsity positions that they have not experienced yet. Right now, we have just been training hard getting into a spot to allow them to play key roles on the team.”
Crigger added the keys to success for his team are not complicated.
“We need to understand that in order to do things we haven’t done before we must be willing to train harder than we ever have before and to trust the process and our teammates,” he said.
Carthage’s boys and girls will run at Neosho’s warm-up meet on Aug. 27.
The Tigers will host the 49th Carthage Invitational on Sept. 8 at the Carthage Golf Course.
