Senior Cody Loganbill (left) and sophomore Zach Arnold practice running 200 meters on the track." />
Senior Cody Loganbill (left) and sophomore Zach Arnold practice running 200 meters on the track.
Eudora High School’s cross country team is working to build upon the success they had this year and bring it to Regionals on Saturday.
The girls were crowned frontier league champions and the boys placed third at the competition last week. Head coach Jim Barnard is happy with his team’s achievements.
“I’m happy for the kids, proud of their efforts and their hard work to be rewarded like that,” he said. “I’m just happy they were able to accomplish some goals and perform well at that meet.”
The Eudora boys were 3A state champions in 1996, but the girls have not yet captured the title, something that Barnard hopes to change.
“The girls have been second, third and second the last three years, so we’re training and preparing like it’s our turn, but you still got to go out and beat the best teams on the day and be the best,” he said. “We’re hopeful that we can, but it’s not going to be easy. Our rival to the south, Baldwin, is going to present good competition, a good test for us, but we’re going to give it our best.”
Junior Phoebe Fletcher is hopeful the girls team can win its first state championship.
“I think we’ve been very successful, and I think we have a really good shot at winning state, finally,” she said. “I think Mr. Barnard has pushed us all and we all push each other as well, and I feel like the team’s kinda like a family and it helps us do better.”
Sophomore Zach Arnold said the team has great chemistry and everyone has been recording good times at practice, so he expects a good finish at regionals.
“I feel like we have a great chance to get first,” he said. “I expect that from us. We’re a great group of guys, and I think we can get it done, no doubt.”
Practices are lighter heading into regionals, but Barnard believes there is room for improvement following the Frontier League meet. He said the goal for both teams on Saturday is to finish in the top three and move on to state.
“We didn’t run the best that we could have run on the boys’ or girls’ side at the league meet,” he said. “I think we could’ve been better in both. Even though the girls won, it wasn’t very comfortable of a margin, and the boys, we kind of slipped up a little bit and we were thinking first or second and we got third.”
Seniors Mackenzie Mayer and Cody Loganbill have ran cross country all four years in high school, and they are both confident in their team’s ability this year.
“We’ve had a pretty good run. I like our potential,” Loganbill said. “We got a really good group of guys, and we really look forward to going to the regional meet, winning and then being really competitive this year.”
Mayer said hard work and competition among the girls’ team is making them better.
“There’s a lot of competitive spirit amongst us, especially the girls on the team, because we all run really similar times,” she said. “We’re really stacked one through eight, so I think that creates some healthy competition there.”
Each runner shared how they believe their coaches and teammates make cross country more enjoyable. Loganbill said he enjoys the simplicity of cross country along with the all-around experience of working with teammates and competing.
“It’s a simple sport when you look at it. All you gotta do is start a race and then finish a race, but in between that time, you can really find yourself,” Loganbill said. “I love my teammates, I love my competitors, it’s just a great experience.”
Regionals start at 10 a.m. Saturday at Baldwin Golf Course.
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