McDonald County cross country is now in the hands of first-year head coach Dakota VanSlyke and he is excited for his team’s prospects in the 2023 season.
“I’m really excited to be the head coach for the McDonald County Mustangs cross country team,” VanSlyke said. “I’ve coached a lot of these kids during track and these athletes make it fun to coach everyday. I’m excited to have a team the school and community can be proud of.
“I’m super excited to see how our team performs this year. We’ve had a great turnout during the offseason and I’m really excited to see their hard work pay off. We have a great group of seniors on the boys and girls side that bring experience, leadership and have an awesome work ethic.”
The Mustangs lost Hunter Leach and Blaine Ortiz from the boys team last season and Anna Belle Price on the girls side—each key subtractions for their respective teams.
Fortunately, both teams have plenty of talent returning to have a competitive season in 2023.
“I expect to have a strong season on both sides this year,” VanSlyke said. “We have a good mix of upperclassmen and some underclassmen who are ready to step up for us this year. I’m confident that our team will represent McDonald County well this year and have fun while competing.”
For the boys, all-conference senior Lane Pratt and all-conference senior Caleb Garvin anchor the returners. Senior Devin Stone also returns alongside junior Corbin Holly and sophomores Devon Hickman and Mason Burton.
Senior Maddie Burton and Jaslyn Benhumea and junior Kenzie Horton all return alongside sophomore all-conference runner Kate Cheney.
“One of our biggest strengths this year will be our work ethic,” VanSlyke said. “These kids have already been putting in the work all summer and still come to practice everyday hungry. On the boys side, we have four returning varsity runners and the girls will have three.
“With having an established core on both sides, that’s our biggest strength. We’ve got kids that have experience and are ready to build upon their past successes. We also have some underclassmen that’s shown growth and had a great offseason that will have a chance to get some varsity time.”
Sophomores Elliot Palmer, Kyler Goewert and Wyatt Wilkinson are expected to make an impact on the boys team for McDonald County this season.
Lacey Nix will be a new addition to the girls team as will freshmen Linden Wolff, Kaylen Pennington, Julissa Valdez and Kylie Smith.
New to the varsity squad for the boys this season will be sophomore Carter McGarrity and freshmen Anthony Wilkinson, Eli Wilkinson, Nathaniel Staib, Landon Bick and Peyton VanSlyke.
“For our team to be successful we need to just be consistent, stay healthy and try to improve each meet,” VanSlyke said. “We want to just be consistent and continue to peak during our conference and district meets. I’m excited to see what we can accomplish this year.”
